TLR agonists as adjuvants for cancer vaccines

Abstract

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the best characterised families of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and play a critical role in the host defence to infection. Accumulating evidence indicates that TLRs also participate in maintaining tissue homeostasis by controlling inflammation and tissue repair, as well as promoting antitumour effects via activation and modulation of adaptive immune responses. TLR agonists have successfully been exploited to ameliorate the efficacy of various cancer therapies. In this chapter, we will discuss the rationales of using TLR agonists as adjuvants to cancer treatments and summarise the recent findings of preclinical and clinical studies of TLR agonist-based cancer therapies.