New trends in antitumor vaccines in melanoma

Antitumor therapeutic vaccines aim at priming an effector immune response able to recognize and kill tumor cells. Antitumor vaccines are composed of at least two main components: the tumor antigens and the adjuvant. Metastatic advanced melanoma has been a model disease to test novel advances in vaccine design due to the intrinsic immunogenicity of this tumor and the accessibility to melanoma lesions to monitor the immune response. In spite of a large number of clinical trials, clinical benefit remains elusive. The clinical success of monoclonal antibodies targeting immune check-points has renewed interest in novel vaccine strategies such as personalized neoantigen-based vaccines.