Immunotherapy of cancer: Some up-to-date approaches

Abstract

Treatment of cancer is currently based on three main modalities: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Most solid tumours can only be cured at an early stage, due to the lack of effective systemic treatment. Surgery and radiotherapy are highly effective for eradicating localized tumours, but unfortunately cannot target disseminated disease. Chemotherapy represents systemic treatment, but the clinical use of current drugs is to a large extent hampered by their limited specificity.Over the last two decades, immunotherapy has emerged as an interesting novel approach. Contrary to the traditional treatment modalities, the immune system combines inherent specificity with a systemic range of action.The term "vaccine" is traditionally used to describe substances that protect against the development of infectious diseases. In cancer therapy, this term refers to both therapeutic and prophylactic approaches for eliciting immunological and anti-tumour responses.Prophylactic vaccines have only been developed in a few cancer forms, mainly cancers related to viral infection, such as cervical and hepatocellular carcinoma. Therapeutic vaccines, given to patients after the development of the disease, are however investigated in a number of cancer forms. Some of the therapeutic vaccines may also be used for prophylaxis, particularly in patients with increased risk of cancer process. This paper throws light and depicts the international experience of a number of distinguished researchers in the field of development and testing of vaccines against some tumours, mainly malignant melanoma and prostate cancer.