Immunotherapy and cancer vaccine development

Identification of immune checkpoint proteins, PD-1 and CTLA-4 on T cells and the FDA approval of antibodies targeting them to boost anti-cancer immunity has ushered in the era of cancer immunotherapy and motivated the identification and establishment of additional key players of the immune system as viable therapeutic targets. Three distinct approaches have been developed as means to enhance the immune response against cancer: 1) Immune checkpoint blockade therapy utilizes antagonistic or agonistic antibodies against inhibitory and stimulatory proteins respectively on key cells or cell types of the immune system, 2) Cancer vaccine therapy uses abnormal proteins/antigens expressed on cancer cells as targets for cancer vaccine development and 3) CAR-T cell therapy involves the generation of recombinant T cells that express specific receptors enabling the recognition and elimination of cancer cells in an antigen-dependent manner.