Therapeutic metastatic prostate cancer vaccines: lessons learnt from urologic oncology

Introduction Therapeutic cancer vaccines have been recognized as a promising treatment option in clinical oncology for nearly three decades. However, despite many efforts, only one cancer vaccine – sipuleucel-T, activating the anti-PAP (prostatic acid phosphatase) immune response, has obtained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Material and methods This review describes the most advanced research on the use of therapeutic cancer vaccines in the treatment of prostate cancer. Results In addition to sipuleucel-T, which was approved in urologic oncology in 2010, four cancer vaccines were and have been tested in phase III clinical trials in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC): GVAX (prostate cancer variant) containing irradiated prostate cancer cell, PPV peptide vaccine, PCVAC/PCa dendritic cell-based vaccine and PROSTVAC anti PSA (prostate-specific antigen) vaccine. This review compares the most promising and best-studied cancer vaccines: sipuleucel-T and PROSTVAC. Currently, both vaccines have been tested in combination with other therapeutic approaches, including check point inhibitors. Conclusions It seems possible that the efficacy of sipuleucel-T and PROSTVAC could be increased in combination therapy with other medications.