Colorectal cancer and tumor vaccines (Review)

Colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system worldwide, shows an annual upward trend in its incidence and mortality, posing a serious threat to human health and life. In recent years, with the rapid development of immunotherapeutic drugs and the continuous optimization of CRC treatment strategies, breakthrough progress has been achieved in CRC treatment, which has improved patients' prognosis to a certain extent. As an emerging immunotherapy, tumor vaccines can stimulate the body to produce specific immune responses against tumor antigens, activate cellular immunity, eliminate tumor cells and inhibit tumor growth. The present study reviewed different categories of CRC vaccines and their clinical applications in CRC treatment, analyzed the current challenges in CRC vaccine development and suggested future research directions to promote the further development and clinical application of tumor vaccines.