Exploration of Immunology

From: Flagellin fusion proteins as self-adjuvanting vaccines for viral infections and cancer

Table 2. Advantages and limitations of existing cancer vaccine platforms.

Platform	Advantages	Limitations
Whole tumour cell or lysate	Broad antigenic spectrum No requirement for epitope prediction	Risk of inducing tolerance Potential adverse events from strong adjuvants
Dendritic cell	Personalized and highly immunogenic Direct T cell activation	Time-consuming and costly Complex manufacturing Modest impact in trials
Viral vectors	Efficient gene delivery High immunogenicity (esp. via MHC-I presentation and induction of type I IFN)	Pre-existing immunity to the vector Safety concerns (insertional mutagenesis)
DNA vaccines	Stable and easy to store Induces both humoral and cellular immunity Easy to synthesize	Requires a complex formulation for transfection Risk of integration into the host genome Relatively low efficacy in humans
mRNA vaccines	Easy to synthesize Rapid and scalable production No risk of genomic integration	Requires a complex formulation for transfection Requires cold-chain storage Stability challenges in vivo
Synthetic peptides	Easy to synthesize High specificity Low toxicity	No attachment of adjuvant MHC restriction Weak immunogenicity No cell targeting
Recombinant proteins	Broader epitope coverage Safer than live vaccines Low toxicity	Low immunogenicity * No attachment of adjuvant * No cell targeting *

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*: except for flagellin fusion proteins. IFN: interferon; MHC: major histocompatibility complex.

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CE: Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. The author read and approved the submitted version.

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The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

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