Cancer vaccines: Target antigens, vaccine platforms and preclinical models

Abstract

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of cancer vaccines, highlighting their potential to revolutionize tumor prevention. Building on the success of vaccines against virus-related cancers, such as HPV- and HBV-associated cervical and liver cancers, the current challenge is to extend these achievements to the prevention of non-viral tumors and the treatment of preneoplastic or early neoplastic lesions. This review analyzes the critical aspects of preventive anti-cancer vaccination, focusing on the choice of target antigens, the development of effective vaccine platforms and technologies, and the use of various model systems for preclinical testing, from laboratory rodents to companion animals.