💉 Cancer Vaccine

A cancer vaccine is a type of immunotherapy designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. These vaccines may be used to prevent cancer or to treat existing cancers by enhancing the body’s immune defenses.

Vaccines that prevent cancer by targeting oncogenic viruses.

HPV vaccine → prevents cervical, anal, and other HPV-related cancers
Hepatitis B vaccine → reduces risk of liver cancer

Vaccines that treat existing cancers by triggering immune responses against tumor-specific antigens. Often personalized based on the patient’s tumor.

Deliver tumor antigen (or genetic material coding for it)
Antigen is presented by dendritic cells
T cells are activated (especially CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cells)
Immune system attacks tumor cells expressing the antigen

Peptide-based vaccines
mRNA or DNA vaccines
Dendritic cell-based vaccines
Viral vector vaccines
Tumor lysate or neoantigen-based vaccines

Vaccine Name	Type	Target	Status
HPV vaccine	Preventive	Human papillomavirus	Approved
Hepatitis B vaccine	Preventive	Hepatitis B virus	Approved
Sipuleucel-T (Provenge)	Therapeutic	Prostate cancer antigen	FDA-approved
mRNA-4157 (Moderna)	Therapeutic	Personalized neoantigens	In clinical trials

Tumor heterogeneity
Immune evasion mechanisms
Efficient delivery of antigens
Time and cost of personalization

AI-based neoantigen prediction
Personalized mRNA vaccines
Combination with checkpoint inhibitors
Nanoparticle-based delivery
Allogenic “off-the-shelf” vaccines

🧾 Summary

Cancer vaccines represent a growing area in oncology. Prophylactic vaccines like HPV and HBV are proven, while therapeutic cancer vaccines are advancing rapidly. Their success depends on precise antigen targeting, efficient immune activation, and often combination with other therapies.

Cancer Vaccine for Glioma.