Innovations and strategies for the development of anticancer vaccines.

In 1893, William Coley reported the spontaneous regression of a soft tissue sarcoma in several patients suffering from acute bacterial infections. Although this observation occurred over a century ago, the concept of anticancer vaccines and the immunotherapy of cancer has only recently seemed plausible. A myriad of specific and non-specific immunostimulatory approaches have been tested throughout the years with only a modicum of success. Most of these approaches were doomed from the outset since they were based on false or inadequate knowledge of tumour immunology. Recent advances in our understanding, most notably the identification of genes encoding for cancer regression antigens, currently permit investigators to pursue a more cogent strategy to develop novel and specific anticancer vaccine approaches. Several of these approaches are currently being tested in clinical trials and have already yielded exciting results. However, a number of immunologic and host obstacles to the successful application of anticancer vaccines remain. This editorial will provide an update on the clinical status of anticancer vaccines and review areas of promising research initiatives.