title: Therapeutic cancer vaccines.
abstract: Therapeutic cancer vaccines have the potential of being integrated in the therapy of numerous cancer types and stages. The wide spectrum of vaccine platforms and vaccine targets is reviewed along with the potential for development of vaccines to target cancer cell "stemness," the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype, and drug-resistant populations. Preclinical and recent clinical studies are now revealing how vaccines can optimally be used with other immune-based therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors, and so-called nonimmune-based therapeutics, radiation, hormonal therapy, and certain small molecule targeted therapies; it is now being revealed that many of these traditional therapies can lyse tumor cells in a manner as to further potentiate the host immune response, alter the phenotype of nonlysed tumor cells to render them more susceptible to T-cell lysis, and/or shift the balance of effector:regulatory cells in a manner to enhance vaccine efficacy. The importance of the tumor microenvironment, the appropriate patient population, and clinical trial endpoints is also discussed in the context of optimizing patient benefit from vaccine-mediated therapy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Electronic address: js141c@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schlom
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hodge
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palena
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Kwong-Yok
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jochems
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Greiner
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farsaci
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Ravi A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Heery
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gulley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000502:physiology; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019496:Cancer Vaccines
keywords: Animal models; Cancer vaccines; Clinical trials; Immunotherapy; Prostate cancer; T cells; Tumor antigens