VLPs and particle strategies for cancer vaccines

Abstract

Effective delivery of tumor antigens to APCs is one of the key steps for eliciting a strong and durable immune response to tumors. Several cancer vaccines have been evaluated in clinical trials, based on soluble peptides, but results have not been fully satisfactory. To improve immunogenicity particles provide a valid strategy to display and/or incorporate epitopes which can be efficiently targeted to APCs for effective induction of adaptive immunity. In the present review, we report some leading technologies for developing particulate vaccines employed in cancer immunotherapy, highlighting the key parameters for a rational design to elicit both humoral and cellular responses.

Keywords::

• antigen presenting cells
• cancer vaccines
• HBV
• HPV
• ISCOMs
• liposomes
• nanoparticles
• polymers
• virus-like particles

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors (F Ungaro, C Conte and F Quaglia) thank the Italian Ministry for University and Research for support by PRIN project 2010H834LS. The authors (FM Buonaguro, M Tornesello and L Buonaguro) were supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme “Next Generation HIV-1 Immunogens inducing broadly reactive Neutralising antibodies – NGIN” (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement number 201433. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• • Particles are designed to mimic the structure of microbes and optimally target APCs.

• • They display on the surface an array of linear and/or conformational epitopes.

• • Particles can be specifically designed in accordance to the administration route and the antigen delivery/release necessity.

• • If adequately engineered, particles are efficiently internalized by APC and cross-presented in association with both MHC class I and class II molecules.

• • Several pre-clinical and human clinical trials have been and are currently conducted to evaluate safety and efficacy as therapeutic cancer vaccines.

• • The first two preventive cancer vaccines licensed for humans (HBV and HPV vaccines) are made of virus-like particles.

• • Further technical challenges needs to be overcome to meet all the production and regulatory requirements.

• • New advancements will foster development of particle vaccine molecules for human clinical trials.

• • Particle technology has a relevant room for playing a relevant role in the cancer vaccinology field of the coming years.