Current vaccine updates for lung cancer

Abstract

Current treatments for lung cancer are far from optimal. Several immunotherapeutic strategies involving vaccines incorporating different tumor-associated antigens to induce immune responses against tumors are being tested in clinical trials internationally. Although small, benefits have indeed been observed from the early studies of these vaccines, and the future is looking brighter for lung cancer patients as a handful of these immunotherapies reach Phase III trials. In addition, optimizing the induced immune response by these vaccines has become a priority, and a number of techniques are being considered, including addition of adjuvants and combining vaccines, which affect synergy based on their mechanism of action. This review is an update on the current vaccines in production, the benefits observed from their most recent studies, and the upcoming plans for improvements in these immunotherapies.