Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Aug 19;24(16):12963.
doi: 10.3390/ijms241612963.

Virus-like Particle (VLP) Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy

Francesca Ruzzi  1 , Maria Sofia Semprini  1 , Laura Scalambra  1 , Arianna Palladini  2 , Stefania Angelicola  1 , Chiara Cappello  1 , Olga Maria Pittino  1 , Patrizia Nanni  1 , Pier-Luigi Lollini  1
Affiliations
Review

Virus-like Particle (VLP) Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy

Francesca Ruzzi et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Cancer vaccines are increasingly being studied as a possible strategy to prevent and treat cancers. While several prophylactic vaccines for virus-caused cancers are approved and efficiently used worldwide, the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines needs to be further implemented. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are self-assembled protein structures that mimic native viruses or bacteriophages but lack the replicative material. VLP platforms are designed to display single or multiple antigens with a high-density pattern, which can trigger both cellular and humoral responses. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of preventive VLP-based vaccines currently approved worldwide against HBV and HPV infections or under evaluation to prevent virus-caused cancers. Furthermore, preclinical and early clinical data on prophylactic and therapeutic VLP-based cancer vaccines were summarized with a focus on HER-2-positive breast cancer.

Keywords: cancer immunoprevention; cancer immunotherapy; cancer vaccines; tumor antigens; virus-like particles (VLPs).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Plotkin S.A. Vaccines: Past, present and future. Nat. Med. 2005;11((Suppl. S4)):S5–S11. doi: 10.1038/nm1209. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coley W.B. The treatment of inoperable sarcoma with the mixed toxins of erysipelas and bacillus prodigiosus. JAMA. 1898;XXXI:456. doi: 10.1001/jama.1898.92450090022001g. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Waldman A.D., Fritz J.M., Lenardo M.J. A guide to cancer immunotherapy: From T cell basic science to clinical practice. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 2020;20:651–668. doi: 10.1038/s41577-020-0306-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu J., Fu M., Wang M., Wan D., Wei Y., Wei X. Cancer vaccines as promising immuno-therapeutics: Platforms and current progress. J. Hematol. Oncol. 2022;15:28. doi: 10.1186/s13045-022-01247-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lollini P.-L., Cavallo F., Nanni P., Forni G. Vaccines for tumour prevention. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 2006;6:204–216. doi: 10.1038/nrc1815. - DOI - PubMed

Substances