Designing neoantigen cancer vaccines, trials, and outcomes

Neoantigen vaccines are based on epitopes of antigenic parts of mutant proteins expressed in cancer cells. These highly immunogenic antigens may trigger the immune system to combat cancer cells. Improvements in sequencing technology and computational tools have resulted in several clinical trials of neoantigen vaccines on cancer patients. In this review, we have looked into the design of the vaccines which are undergoing several clinical trials. We have discussed the criteria, processes, and challenges associated with the design of neoantigens. We searched different databases to track the ongoing clinical trials and their reported outcomes. We observed, in several trials, the vaccines boost the immune system to combat the cancer cells while maintaining a reasonable margin of safety. Detection of neoantigens has led to the development of several databases. Adjuvants also play a catalytic role in improving the efficacy of the vaccine. Through this review, we can conclude that the efficacy of vaccines can make it a potential treatment across different types of cancers.

Automated summary

Neoantigen vaccines are being developed to target specific mutated proteins in cancer cells and stimulate the immune system to fight against them. Advances in sequencing technology and computational tools have facilitated the design of these vaccines and several clinical trials have been conducted. This review examines the design criteria, processes, and challenges associated with neoantigens, as well as the outcomes of ongoing clinical trials. The review concludes that neoantigen vaccines have shown promising efficacy in boosting the immune response against cancer cells and have the potential to be used in the treatment of various types of cancers.