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Updated: Nov 24, 2025

Therapy Testing in a Spheroid-based 3D Cell Culture Model for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
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Personalized cancer vaccination in head and neck cancer

Hirofumi Shibata1,2, Liye Zhou1, Na Xu1,3

  • 1Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.

Cancer Science
|December 28, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Personalized cancer vaccines targeting neoantigens offer a promising immunotherapy strategy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This review explores cancer vaccine approaches, antigen selection, and combination therapies for HNSCC treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is characterized by a high mutation burden, generating neoantigens that can be targeted by T cells.
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) offer new treatment options for advanced HNSCC, but response rates vary, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies.
  • Understanding cellular immunity to neoantigens is crucial for improving clinical outcomes in HNSCC.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current cancer vaccine approaches for HNSCC.
  • To discuss the mechanisms, antigen selection, and combination therapies for personalized cancer vaccines in HNSCC.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on cancer vaccines, neoantigen identification, and immunotherapy for HNSCC.
  • Analysis of next-generation sequencing and computational algorithms for neoantigen discovery.
  • Examination of clinical trial data and preclinical studies on HNSCC vaccines.

Main Results:

  • Somatic mutations in HNSCC provide a source of tumor-specific neoantigens for T cell recognition.
  • Personalized cancer vaccines can be developed by identifying and targeting these neoantigens.
  • Combination strategies involving vaccines and CPIs show potential for enhancing anti-tumor immunity.

Conclusions:

  • Personalized cancer vaccines represent a viable immunotherapy strategy for HNSCC, particularly for patients unresponsive to CPIs.
  • Advances in genomic sequencing facilitate the identification of neoantigens for vaccine development.
  • Further research into optimal antigen selection and combination therapies is essential for advancing HNSCC vaccine strategies.
Keywords:
cancer vaccine therapyclinical trialhead and neck squamous cell carcinomatumor-associated antigentumor-specific antigen

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