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Review
. 2025 Feb 11;14(4):1170.
doi: 10.3390/jcm14041170.

Vaccine-Based Immunotherapy for Oropharyngeal and Nasopharyngeal Cancers

Daria Maria Filippini  1   2 , Elisabetta Broseghini  3 , Carlotta Liberale  4 , Giulia Gallerani  2   3 , Giambattista Siepe  5 , Elisabetta Nobili  1 , Manuela Ferracin  2   3 , Gabriele Molteni  2   6
Affiliations
Review

Vaccine-Based Immunotherapy for Oropharyngeal and Nasopharyngeal Cancers

Daria Maria Filippini et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Viral infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) play a critical role in the onset of oropharyngeal (OPC) and nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), respectively. Despite advancements in targeted therapies and immunotherapies, in the recurrent/metastatic setting, these tumors remain incurable diseases with poor prognosis. The development of therapeutic tumor vaccines, utilizing either neoantigens or oncoviral antigens, represents a promising addition to the cancer immunotherapy arsenal. Research on vaccine-based immunotherapy for OPC and NPC focuses on targeting viral antigens, particularly HPV E6/E7 and EBV EBNA1/LMP2. The potential for vaccine platforms, including peptide-based, DNA, RNA, and viral vector-based vaccines, to induce durable immune responses against viral antigens is reported. The early-phase clinical trials evaluating vaccine-based therapies for HPV-related OPC and EBV-related NPC revealed safety and preliminary signs of efficacy; however, further clinical trials are crucial for validation. This review provides an overview of the current landscape of vaccine-based strategies for HPV-related OPC and EBV-related NPC, discussing their biological mechanisms and immune processes involved in anti-HPV and anti-EBV vaccine treatments, with a particular focus on the immune factors that influence these therapies.

Keywords: immunotherapy; nasopharynx; oropharynx; vaccines; virus-related head and neck cancers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cancer vaccine platforms are typically categorized into cell-based, viral or bacterial-based, and molecular vaccines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Different therapeutic approaches for HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Different therapeutic approaches for EBV-positive nasopharyngeal cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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