Current approaches in ovarian cancer vaccines

Much of the current approaches in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer are directed towards prolongation of duration between primary treatment and remission. Immunotherapy is regarded as one attractive option for consolidation of initial therapeutic responses. In fact, immune reactivity against ovarian carcinoma can be induced by various immunotherapeutical approaches including antibodies, peptides or dendritic cell vaccines. This review provides an overview of recent clinical trials using various concepts of immunotherapy for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Possible reasons for limited clinical success as well as further progress to improve efficacy of current immune intervention strategies, e.g. by vaccines targeting a broader range of tumor-derived antigenic structures or activating diverse host immune functions, will be discussed.