Third International Conference on Cancer Vaccines/Adjuvants/Delivery for the Next Decade (CVADD 2009)

The Third International Conference on Cancer Vaccines/Adjuvants/Delivery for the Next Decade (CVADD), chaired by Malcolm S Mitchell, was hosted in Dublin, Ireland, on 11-13 November 2009. The conference was intended to aid the translation of basic research into clinical progress and to bridge the gap between academia and industrial innovation. In total, 44 speakers gave presentations on preclinical and clinical vaccine development, mostly focusing on cancer vaccination. The present report does not represent a comprehensive review of all topics covered, but highlights selected points of particular novelty and interest. Within the field of cancer vaccines, the considerable discrepancy between high immune response rates and limited clinical effects has led to increased focus on how vaccines may best be applied to maximize their clinical impact. This challenge emerged at the forefront of the conference, reflected by fruitful discussions on adjuvants, delivery systems, strategies for countering tumor tolerance and on combination with conventional therapy. The studies presented at CVADD 2009 support the argument for combining active immunization with agents countering tumor tolerance and with conventional cancer treatment, while also pointing to a need for improved knowledge on how to develop these multimodal regimes.