Personalized Cancer Vaccines in the Clinical Trial Pipeline.

Abstract

Aim: To present an overview of personalized cancer vaccines currently undergoing clinical development, aiming to enhance awareness and promote collaboration among academic, commercial researchers, and non-profit communities.

Methods: A dataset of 78 clinical trials for personalized cancer vaccines was generated using ClinicalTrials.gov database as of November 25, 2024. We conducted an analysis of the studies based on sponsors, conditions, phases, types of vaccines, and global geographic distribution.

Results: The majority of trials focused on peptide vaccines (40%) and dendritic cell vaccine (19%), targeting solid tumors, brain, pancreatic and breast cancers, among others. Phase 1 trials dominated the landscape, accounting for over 90% of studies, with significant activity in the United States (44%) and China (24%). Industry sponsors backed 22% of studies. Active trials represented 72% of the dataset, reflecting ongoing research efforts in this field. Enrollment sizes varied widely, ranging from small exploratory cohorts of fewer than 10 participants to larger-scale trials enrolling up to 700 patients. Completed clinical trials evaluating personalized neoantigen vaccines across various cancer types showed that vaccines were generally well-tolerated, elicited strong T-cell responses, and resulted in promising clinical outcomes such as tumor shrinkage or prolonged progression-free survival, particularly in melanoma, glioblastoma, and urothelial cancer, although no universal cure was demonstrated.

Conclusions: There is a broad early-stage pipeline of personalized cancer vaccines currently being tested in clinical trials for various cancer types.