Cancer vaccines: should we be targeting patients with less aggressive disease?

Abstract

There is enthusiasm for using vaccines to stimulate the immune system to treat cancer. In this article, the authors review the evolution of vaccines evaluated in clinical trials, starting with Phase III trials in metastatic disease and progressing to trials in the adjuvant setting. Data from these trials suggest that cancer vaccines may be more effective in patients with lower volume disease, and data from the E75 peptide vaccine trials suggest that vaccines may be most effective in less aggressive disease.

Keywords::

• biologic factors
• cancer vaccines
• clinical trials
• early-stage disease
• immunotherapy
• metastatic disease

Dislcaimer

The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

Financial & competing interest disclosure

GE Peoples has inventor rights to several peptide-based vaccines, including E75, which has been licensed to Galena Biopharma for commercial development. 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.