Immune-modulating vaccines in non-small cell lung cancer

The limited efficacy and moderate toxicity of chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have given the search for a more effective and safer systemic treatment a sense of urgency. NSCLC has historically been regarded as a non-immunogenic cancer, and immunotherapy has yielded little benefit in humans. However, encouraging clinical results in patients immunized with novel vaccines directed toward enhancement of tumor antigen recognition have been published. In this review, we describe the scientific basis and updates the clinical results of three vaccine approaches (GVAX, Lucanix, and L-BLP25) and discuss preliminary work on a novel Ras mutation targeted immune therapy. Further studies are needed to demonstrate whether these novel therapies can potentially complement or replace current therapeutic approaches.