Advances in Tumor Antigen‐Based Anticancer Immunotherapy: Recent Progress, Prevailing Challenges, and Future Perspective

Abstract

Elimination of tumors by regulating the immune system is the primary research focus in the rapidly developing field of immune-oncology. Current immunotherapeutic strategies mainly include immune checkpoint blockade therapy, adoptive immune cell therapy, and cancer vaccines. Among them, tumor antigen-based cancer vaccines can potentially elicit specific and potent anti-tumor immune responses with less toxicity and side effects, which are recognized as promising treatments in immunotherapy. The selection of tumor antigens is the primary determinant of cancer vaccine design, whereas systematic reviews based on them are scarce. In the present review, currently known tumor antigens and recent developments in cancer vaccines based on tumor antigens, including traditional antigen vaccines, neoantigen vaccines, shared antigen vaccines, and oral antigen vaccines, in hopes of providing fundamental basis for further development of novel cancer vaccine-based therapies, are summarized.

Molecular Characteristics of Tumor Cell: Recent Advances and Challenges

“…Designing a cancer vaccine is primarily determined by the choice of tumour antigens. Current tumour antigens and recent advancements in tumour antigen-based cancer vaccines, such as traditional antigen vaccines, neoantigen vaccines, shared antigen vaccines, and oral antigen vaccines, are summarised with the goal of serving as a fundamental building block for the further development of novel cancer vaccinebased therapies [28].…”

In Situ Tumor Vaccine for Lymph Nodes Delivery and Cancer Therapy Based on Small Size Nanoadjuvant

“…[ 15 ] Tumor antigens mainly include tumor associated antigens (TAAs), tumor specific antigens (TSAs), and whole‐cell tumor antigens. TAA are autoantigens overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells, such as prostate specific antigen, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, glycoprotein 100, and cancer testis antigen (CTA), [ 16–18 ] but the coexpression on the surface of normal and tumor cells makes them susceptible to central immune tolerance, which hinders the efficacy and clinical application of TAAs‐based tumor vaccines. TSAs, also known as neoantigens, are antigens expressed only on the surface of tumor cells but not on normal cells, including antigens produced by tumorigenic viruses integrated into the genome and antigens produced by mutant proteins, which are highly specific compared to TAA, avoid inducing central immune tolerance, and induce a more potent and specific anti‐tumor immune response.…”

“…[15] Tumor antigens mainly include tumor associated antigens (TAAs), tumor specific antigens (TSAs), and whole-cell tumor antigens. TAA are autoantigens overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells, such as prostate specific antigen, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, glycoprotein 100, and cancer testis antigen (CTA), [16][17][18] but the coexpression on the surface of normal and tumor cells makes them susceptible to central immune tolerance, which hinders the efficacy and clinical application of TAAs-based tumor vaccines. TSAs, also known as neoantigens, Tumor vaccine is a promising cancer treatment modality, however, the convenient antigens loading in vivo and efficient delivery of vaccines to lymph nodes (LNs) still remain a formidable challenge.…”