Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines Revamping: Technology Advancements and Pitfalls

Cancer vaccines (CVs) represent a long-sought therapeutic and prophylactic immunotherapy strategy to obtain antigen-specific T-cell responses, and potentially achieve long-term clinical benefit. However, historically, most CV clinical trials have resulted in disappointing outcomes, despite promising signs of immunogenicity across most formulations. In the past decade, technologic advances regarding vaccine delivery platforms, tools for immunogenomic profiling and antigen/epitope selection have occurred. Consequently, the ability of CVs to induce tumor-specific and, in some cases, remarkable clinical responses have been observed in early-phase clinical trials. It is notable that the record-breaking speed of vaccine development in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic mainly relied on manufacturing infrastructures and technological platforms already developed for CVs. In turn, research, clinical data, and infrastructures put in place for the SARS-CoV2 pandemic can further speed CV development processes. This review outlines the main technological advancements as well as major issues to tackle in the development of CVs. Possible applications for unmet clinical needs will be described, putting into perspective the future of cancer vaccinology.