Cancer vaccine strategies to improve immunotherapy: many roads lead to Rome

Abstract

Cancer vaccines are aimed at raising an immune responses aganist defined tumor antigens. The formulation of a vaccine has a direct impact on the potency of the immune response generated. Cancer vaccines require particular effort in their formulation, as the immune system has to overcome immune suppression exerted by the tumor. In this thesis, different formulations to enhance cancer vaccine efficacy were explored. In the first part it is shown how chemical conjugation of antigen and adjuvant in form synthetic Toll-like receptor ligands represent a strategy to enahnce vaccine potency. Next, it is presented how the loading of peptide antigens onto dextran nanogel contributes to increase the breadth of the immune response induced. Lastly, a new DNA vaccine containing multiple tumor neoantigens was explored as a platform for personalized cancer vaccines. Together, these studies display how the formulation of cancer vaccines can be modified and optimized to achieve stronger therapeutic efficacy in the clinic.