Table 2.

Current approaches to tumor vaccination

APPROACH	ANTIGEN	RESTRICTIONS	PROS	CONS
Peptide vaccines	9–20 amino acids	HLA allele specific (e.g. HLA-A2)	Non-toxic, cheap to produce	Restricted to patients with one specific HLA alleles, targets only one epitope, requires adjuvant
Protein	Whole antigens	None	No restrictions based upon HLA type	Expensive to produce, unclear how best to administer
Pox Viruses	Whole antigens	Some concern in immuno-suppressed hosts	Can also administer costimulator y molecules	Anti-pox immune response limits repetitive administration
DNA	Whole antigens	None	Relatively simple to produce	May be better at boosting existing immune responses than inducing primary responses
Dendritic cells	Peptides or protein antigens or whole tumor cells	Requires harvest, not off-the-shelf	Individualize herapy, can iver multiple igens	Labor intensive, unclear how best to prepare DCs
Genetically engineered tumor cell banks	All antigens expressed by the tumor will be presented	None	Presentation of multiple antigens, can specifically modulate co-stimulation	Individual cell banks difficult to produce, allogeneic cells banks may or may not be as effective