Tumour vaccines


Tumour vaccines are a type of cancer therapy designed to stimulate the immune system to attack and destroy tumour cells.

Here are some examples of tumour vaccines that are in clinical use:

  1. Peptide vaccines
    Peptide vaccines contain short pieces of proteins that are specific to tumour cells. These vaccines are designed to stimulate the immune system to attack tumour cells. An example of a peptide vaccine is the Provenge vaccine used to treat prostate cancer.
  2. Viruses as vaccines
    Certain viruses can be used to stimulate the immune system against cancer cells. An example is the OncoVEX-GM-CSF vaccine for the treatment of melanoma and pancreatic cancer.
  3. Dendritic cell vaccines
    Dendritic cells are specialised immune cells that play an important role in recognising and fighting cancer cells. Dendritic cell vaccines contain dendritic cells loaded with tumour cells or tumour antigens to stimulate the immune system against the tumour.
  4. mRNA vaccines
    mRNA vaccines contain genetic information that teaches the body to produce certain proteins to activate the immune system. mRNA vaccines are used to treat cancer by stimulating the immune system against tumour cells. One example is the BNT111 vaccine for the treatment of melanoma.

The development of tumour vaccines has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of cancer and may play an important role in cancer immunotherapy in the future. In this area, many international studies have been placed in the various phases, which are promising.