The Promise of Preventive Cancer Vaccines

Years of unsuccessful attempts at fighting established tumors with vaccines have taught us all that they are only able to truly impact patient survival when used in a preventive setting, as would normally be the case for traditional vaccines against infectious diseases. While true primary cancer pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pier-Luigi Lollini, Federica Cavallo, Patrizia Nanni, Elena Quaglino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2015-06-01
Series:Vaccines
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/3/2/467
Description
Summary:Years of unsuccessful attempts at fighting established tumors with vaccines have taught us all that they are only able to truly impact patient survival when used in a preventive setting, as would normally be the case for traditional vaccines against infectious diseases. While true primary cancer prevention is still but a long-term goal, secondary and tertiary prevention are already in the clinic and providing encouraging results. A combination of immunopreventive cancer strategies and recently approved checkpoint inhibitors is a further promise of forthcoming successful cancer disease control, but prevention will require a considerable reduction of currently reported toxicities. These considerations summed with the increased understanding of tumor antigens allow space for an optimistic view of the future.
ISSN:2076-393X