What Are Cancer Vaccines — and How Do They Work Against Tumors?

TL;DR

• Cancer vaccines teach the immune system to recognize tumor-specific markers.
• Some are personalized from a patient's own tumor tissue.
• Several vaccine-based therapies are now being tested for glioblastoma.

What Are Cancer Vaccines — and How Do They Work Against Tumors?

When most people hear the word "vaccine," they think of preventing disease — not treating it. But in cancer care, vaccines are used differently. Instead of preventing infection, they help the immune system identify and attack cancer cells already in the body.

How It Works

Cancer vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize specific proteins — called antigens — that are found on the surface of tumor cells. Once the immune system learns to see those antigens as "foreign," it can begin targeting and destroying any cells that carry them.

Some vaccines are personalized, created using the patient's own tumor tissue to target unique mutations. Others use antigens that are shared across certain cancer types, allowing the same vaccine to work for many patients with similar tumors.

Researchers are also studying vaccine combinations — for example, pairing vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors or CAR-T therapy to strengthen the immune response and overcome the ways tumors hide from the immune system.

For a deeper scientific overview, see the National Cancer Institute's overview on cancer treatment vaccines.

Context in Cancer Treatment

A few cancer-prevention vaccines already exist, such as the HPV vaccine, which helps prevent cervical and several other HPV-related cancers. But therapeutic cancer vaccines — designed to treat cancer after it develops — are still emerging.

In brain cancer, several experimental vaccines are being studied to help the immune system better identify glioblastoma cells, which often evade detection because they look too similar to healthy brain tissue. These trials aim to teach the immune system to recognize what it previously couldn't see.

Exploring Vaccine-Based Trials With PACT AI

If you or someone you love is exploring treatment options, it may be worth asking whether any vaccine-based immunotherapies are currently being studied for your cancer type. PACT AI can help you find and understand those trials.

Learn more about how PACT AI can help →

Have questions? Reach out at contact@pact-ai.com.