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Peptides as cancer vaccines

Marta Calvo Tardón1, Mathilde Allard1, Valérie Dutoit2

  • 1Center for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Division of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Current Opinion in Pharmacology
|March 5, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Synthetic peptide cancer vaccines are safe and stimulate T cells but lack efficacy. Advances in antigen selection and peptide design are promising, with combination therapies expected to improve outcomes in immuno-oncology.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Vaccinology

Background:

  • Synthetic peptide cancer vaccines are a safe immunotherapy that specifically stimulate tumor-reactive T cells.
  • Current clinical efficacy of peptide vaccines is limited compared to other immunotherapies like immune checkpoint blockade.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review advances in peptide vaccine development for cancer.
  • To identify key impediments to vaccine efficacy and discuss strategies to overcome them.
  • To explore the potential of combination therapies to enhance peptide vaccine effectiveness.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent research in cancer antigen selection and epitope identification.
  • Analysis of peptide optimization for vaccine formulation.
  • Discussion of adjuvant potency and tumor microenvironment modulation.
  • Evaluation of combination therapy strategies in immuno-oncology.

Main Results:

  • Significant progress has been made in selecting tumor antigens and identifying HLA-binding epitopes.
  • Peptide optimization for vaccine formulation has advanced.
  • Limited adjuvant potency and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments are identified as major barriers.
  • Rationally designed combination therapies are emerging as a promising approach.

Conclusions:

  • Peptide cancer vaccines show promise but require strategies to enhance potency.
  • Overcoming limitations of adjuvants and the tumor microenvironment is crucial.
  • Combination therapies hold potential to establish peptide vaccination as a viable immuno-oncology treatment option.

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