Breast cancer vaccines: ongoing National Cancer Institute-registered clinical trials.

Advances in the molecular characterization of human tumors have led to increased interest in the development of targeted therapeutics to include cancer vaccines. The recent success of sipuleucel-T, an autologous cellular vaccine administered to patients with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer, suggests that this is a viable therapeutic option in the management of patients with solid tumors. This article focuses on breast cancer vaccines emphasizing delivery platforms, target antigens and novel strategies designed to enhance response to vaccination that are being evaluated in ongoing Phase II clinical trials.