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Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally, and the number continue to climb in many parts of the world. Cancer cells are highly genetically unstable and thus express tumor-specific and tumor-associated antigens which have become prime targets for the development of cancer immunotherapies, especially cancer vaccines. Some of the most common mutations across all cancers are found in the cell cycle, leading to uncontrolled cell growth and tumorigenesis. The tumor microenvironment is the environment surrounding a tumor and is highly complex, with key features including blood vessels, immune cells, stromal cells, and extracellular matrix that all contribute to the development of a given cancer. In attempt to eradicate the tumor, the immune system undergoes three phases: elimination, where the immune system limits early tumor growth; equilibrium, where there is a sustained balance between tumor growth and immune control; and escape, where the tumor overcomes the immune response and grows to become clinically significant, allowing it to potentially metastasize to distant organs. While the most common cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, cancer immunotherapy in the form of cancer vaccines has major implications on the future of cancer treatment. The purpose of cancer vaccines is to train a cancer patient’s immune system to recognize tumor antigens, thus enabling T cell responses that kill cancer cells expressing such antigens. The major types of cancer vaccines that are currently being thoroughly investigated and that are part of a long list of active clinical trials include peptide-based cancer vaccines, antigen presenting cell (APC)-based cancer vaccines, and nucleic acid cancer vaccines. These clinical trials, managed by the United States Food and Drug Administration require significant time and funding to recruit patients and gather data to prove vaccine efficacy. Many of these studies, however, run into challenges when it comes to deciding which type of vaccine to use, how it is administered, and how it is prepared, all depending on the specific type of cancer at hand and the individual patient. Despite these challenges, personalized cancer vaccines show great promise in cancer treatment for all the lives that are affected by the disease. |
