title: Therapeutic cancer vaccines: current status and moving forward.
abstract: Concurrent with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first therapeutic cancer vaccine, a wide spectrum of other cancer vaccine platforms that target a diverse range of tumor-associated antigens is currently being evaluated in randomized phase II and phase III trials. The profound influence of the tumor microenvironment and other immunosuppressive entities, however, can limit the effectiveness of these vaccines. Numerous strategies are currently being evaluated both preclinically and clinically to counteract these immunosuppressive entities, including the combined use of vaccines with immune checkpoint inhibitors, certain chemotherapeutics, small-molecule targeted therapies, and radiation. The potential influence of the appropriate patient population and clinical trial endpoint in vaccine therapy studies is discussed, as well as the potential importance of biomarkers in future directions of this field.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Dr, Rm 8B09, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. js141c@nih.gov
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schlom
mesh_terms: D000524:Alphavirus; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D015195:Drug Design; D005260:Female; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D011212:Poxviridae; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D014020:Tissue Extracts; C511774:sipuleucel-T