Immunoprophylactic intervention in chemical toxicity and carcinogenicity.

Preventing or diminishing the effects of environmental carcinogens and toxicants using immunoprophylactic vaccines has been tested by various investigators for the last 60 y. This approach has not gained widespread interest in scientific or medical communities due to ambiguous results. However, advances in vaccine design and immunization protocols now offer a reliable mechanism for the induction of mucosal immunity which may afford protection from these agents at their site of absorption. Previous studies aimed at immunoprophylactic vaccination against carcinogens and toxicants are reviewed, and future directions for this area of research are discussed.