Sean M. Gregory, John A. West and Blossom Damania
Cancer vaccines based on patient-derived, autologous immune cells are actively being pursued as a novel strategy to utilize the body’s natural defenses against malignancy. Harnessing the ability of the immune system to fight cancer involves overcoming many obstacles including tumor-specific targeting, overcoming tolerance, and generating effective tumoricidal responses. Co-administration of immune activating adjuvants may hold the key to breaking through several of these barriers. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are pathogen sensors of the innate immune system that activate proinflammatory responses to fight infection and initiate adaptive immune responses. TLRs are increasingly being explored in combination with cancer vaccine strategies since they may have the potential to enhance immunotherapy by promoting tumor-specific immunity. This review will focus on recent basic and clinical research on the use of TLR agonists in cancer therapy.