A primer on recent developments in cancer immunotherapy, with a focus on neoantigen vaccines

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy has now been conclusively shown to be capable of producing durable responses for a substantial number of patients. Adoptive cell transfer and checkpoint blockade therapies in particular both demonstrate that antigen-specific immune responses can be dramatically effective, even in previously refractory late stage disease. Such developments, together with advances in technology, have strongly encouraged revisiting the concept of neoantigen vaccines. Here we introduce basic ideas in the field to allow investigators from diverse backgrounds to understand these developments, grasp current issues, and contribute to further progress.