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Tumour Vaccine – Cancer Vaccines Explained

A tumour vaccine is a cancer immunotherapy that trains the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. It represents a promising approach in modern oncology.

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Things worth knowing about "Tumour vaccine"

A tumour vaccine is a cancer immunotherapy that trains the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. It represents a promising approach in modern oncology.

What Is a Tumour Vaccine?

A tumour vaccine (also called a cancer vaccine or antitumour vaccine) is a biological preparation designed to activate or enhance a patient's immune system against cancer cells. Unlike conventional vaccines against infectious diseases, tumour vaccines are primarily used as therapeutic agents to treat existing cancers, although preventive cancer vaccines also exist.

Research into tumour vaccines is one of the most dynamic areas of cancer immunotherapy and has seen remarkable progress in recent years, driven particularly by advances in mRNA technology and personalised neoantigen approaches.

Mechanism of Action

Tumour vaccines exploit tumour-associated antigens – protein structures typically found on the surface of cancer cells – to prime the immune system to recognise and destroy these cells. The process involves several key steps:

Introduction of tumour antigens into the body (e.g. via peptides, DNA, mRNA, or dendritic cells)
Activation of antigen-presenting cells (such as dendritic cells)
Stimulation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD8+ T cells) capable of directly killing tumour cells
Induction of an immunological memory response, potentially providing long-term protection

Types of Tumour Vaccines

Peptide- and Protein-Based Vaccines

These vaccines contain short amino acid sequences (peptides) or full-length proteins that mimic tumour antigens. They are relatively straightforward to manufacture but often require adjuvants (immune-boosting agents) to elicit a sufficiently strong immune response.

Dendritic Cell Vaccines

In this approach, dendritic cells are harvested from the patient, loaded with tumour antigens in the laboratory, and then re-infused. The best-known example is sipuleucel-T (Provenge), approved for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.

mRNA-Based Vaccines

Using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, the body's own cellular machinery is instructed to produce tumour antigens. This approach enables rapid and flexible vaccine production and is being actively investigated for personalised cancer vaccines.

Viral Vector Vaccines

Modified viruses are used to deliver genetic information encoding tumour antigens into the body, thereby triggering a targeted immune response against the tumour.

Whole-Cell Vaccines

These vaccines consist of killed or attenuated tumour cells derived from the patient or from established cell lines, presenting the immune system with a broad spectrum of tumour antigens simultaneously.

Preventive Tumour Vaccines

Some tumour vaccines are used for cancer prevention rather than treatment. Notable examples include:

HPV vaccines (e.g. Gardasil, Cervarix): Protect against human papillomavirus strains that can cause cervical cancer and other malignancies.
Hepatitis B vaccines: Reduce the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).

Clinical Application and Current Research

Sipuleucel-T remains one of the few approved therapeutic cancer vaccines worldwide. Numerous additional candidates are currently in Phase I to III clinical trials, including personalised neoantigen vaccines that are tailored to the specific mutations present in an individual patient's tumour.

Particularly promising is the combination of tumour vaccines with immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g. PD-1/PD-L1 blockade), as this combination can synergistically amplify the anti-tumour immune response. Ongoing trials are evaluating vaccines for melanoma, lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and other cancers.

Side Effects and Safety

Tumour vaccines are generally considered well tolerated. Possible side effects include:

Local reactions at the injection site (redness, swelling, pain)
Systemic symptoms such as fatigue, fever, or chills
In rare cases, autoimmune reactions, where the immune system targets healthy tissue

Overall, the safety profile of tumour vaccines is considerably more favourable than that of many conventional chemotherapy regimens.

References

Melief, C. J. M. et al. (2015): Therapeutic cancer vaccines. In: Journal of Clinical Investigation, 125(9), 3401–3412. DOI: 10.1172/JCI80009.
Saxena, M. et al. (2021): Therapeutic cancer vaccines. In: Nature Reviews Cancer, 21, 360–378. DOI: 10.1038/s41568-021-00346-0.
World Health Organization (WHO): Cancer immunotherapy overview. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer (accessed 2024).

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