[Development of Nucleic Acid-Based Adjuvant for Cancer Immunotherapy]

Since the discovery of the human T cell-defined tumor antigen, the cancer immunotherapy field has rapidly progressed, with the research and development of cancer immunotherapy, including cancer vaccines, being conducted actively. However, the disadvantages of most cancer vaccines include relatively weak immunogenicity and immune escape or exhaustion. Adjuvants with innate immunostimulatory activities have been used to overcome these issues, and these agents have been shown to enhance the immunogenicity of cancer vaccines and to act as mono-therapeutic anti-tumor agents. CpG ODN, an agonist for TLR9, is one of the promising nucleic acid-based adjuvants, and it is a potent inducer of innate immune effector functions. CpG ODN suppresses tumor growth in the absence of tumor antigens and peptide administration. Therefore, CpG ODN is expected to be useful as a cancer vaccine adjuvant as well as a cancer immunotherapy agent. In this review, we discuss the potential therapeutic applications and mechanisms of CpG ODN for cancer immunotherapy.