Sepideh Meidaninikjeh,1,*Ata Khosh Lahni,2
1. PhD student of Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran 2. Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran
Introduction: Cancer is an important issue globally that leads to death and its mortality rates are increasing in worldwide.
In recent years, cancer vaccines are considered as a promising immunotherapy development and used in two ways: 1. Preventive vaccines 2. Therapeutic vaccines. Preventive vaccines can prevent cancers caused by viruses such as hepatitis B and human papilloma through inducing immune memory. However, these types of vaccines cannot be used for all types of cancer, because all of them are not caused by viruses.
Cancer therapeutic vaccines are designed and can applied for stimulation tumor regression, eradication minimal residual signs of illness, build up enduring antitumor memory and prevention of some non-specific or also harmful reactions.
Methods: In this study, 6 articles were selected from the Scopus search database based on keywords including cancer, vaccine and immune system from 2020-2022
Results: Selecting the appropriate antigen is very significant for vaccine design. Tumor antigens can be divided into two notable categories: 1. Tumor associated antigens (TAA) that are expressed in malignant or non-malignant tissues and are categorized into three types: overexpressed antigens, cancer testis antigens, and differentiated antigens. 2. Tumor specific antigens (TSA) that are expressed only in tumor cells and are sometimes called neoantigens. TSAs have stronger immunogenicity and greater affinity to MHCs compared TAAs, and cause the appropriate response of tumor specific T cells with less damage. Recently, they are the notable target of cancer vaccine design.
Based on different preparation methods, The platform of cancer vaccines are categorized into 4 groups: cell-based vaccines, virus-based vaccines, peptide-based vaccines, and nucleic acid-based vaccines.
After tumor vaccine administration, dendritic cells (DCs) take up and process tumor antigens. Subsequently, their migration to the lymph nodes occurred resulting in recruiting activating of immune cells. DCs activate CD4+ and CD8+ T cells through presenting tumor processed antigens to major histocompatibility complex II (MHCΙI) and MHCI, respectively. Finally, T cells differentiation occurs and divided them into effector and memory T cells. Activation of these cells leads to proliferate and differentiate of CD8+ T cells into cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). These cells destroy tumor cells through the production of compounds such as perforin and granzyme and the interactions of Fas and FasL. In addition, CTLs can inhibit the angiogenesis of tumor cells by producing IFNγ. Moreover, CD4+ T cells control and also support the differentiation and effective responses of CD8+ T cells through producing IFNγ. Furthermore, CD4+ T cells with follicular DCs differentiate B cells into memory B cells and plasma cells and activation of B cells results in tumor cell apoptosis by antibody-dependents cell cytotoxicity (ADCC).
Conclusion: Immunotherapy and cancer vaccines are promising therapeutic methods to eliminate tumor cells. However, more studies are needed to identify suitable antigens and develop cancer vaccines which lead to effective and common treatment for cancer