Nasti Tahseen H, Eberhardt Christiane S
Emory Vaccine Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Center for Vaccinology, University Hospitals Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Nov 25;9(12):1396. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9121396.
The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has substantially increased the overall survival of cancer patients and has revolutionized the therapeutic situation in oncology. However, not all patients and cancer types respond to ICI, or become resistant over time. Combining ICIs with therapeutic cancer vaccines is a promising option as vaccination may help to overcome resistance to immunotherapies while immunotherapies may increase immune responses to the particular cancer vaccine by reinvigorating exhausted T cells. Thus, it would be possible to reprogram a response with appropriate vaccines, using a particular cancer antigen and a corresponding ICI. Target populations include currently untreatable cancer patients or those who receive treatment regimens with high risk of serious side effects. In addition, with the increased use of ICI in clinical practice, questions arise regarding safety and efficacy of administration of conventional vaccines, such as influenza or COVID-19 vaccines, during active ICI treatment. This review discusses the main principles of prophylactic and therapeutic cancer vaccines, the potential impact on combining therapeutic cancer vaccines with ICI, and briefly summarizes the current knowledge of safety and effectiveness of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines in ICI-treated patients.
免疫检查点抑制剂（ICI）的使用显著提高了癌症患者的总体生存率，并彻底改变了肿瘤学的治疗局面。然而，并非所有患者和癌症类型都对ICI有反应，或者随着时间的推移会产生耐药性。将ICI与治疗性癌症疫苗联合使用是一个有前景的选择，因为接种疫苗可能有助于克服对免疫疗法的耐药性，而免疫疗法可能通过重振耗竭的T细胞来增强对特定癌症疫苗的免疫反应。因此，使用特定的癌症抗原和相应的ICI，有可能通过合适的疫苗重新编程免疫反应。目标人群包括目前无法治疗的癌症患者或接受有严重副作用高风险治疗方案的患者。此外，随着ICI在临床实践中的使用增加，出现了关于在ICI积极治疗期间接种常规疫苗（如流感疫苗或COVID-19疫苗）的安全性和有效性的问题。本综述讨论了预防性和治疗性癌症疫苗的主要原理、将治疗性癌症疫苗与ICI联合使用的潜在影响，并简要总结了目前关于ICI治疗患者接种流感疫苗和COVID-19疫苗的安全性和有效性的知识。
