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Cancers
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Mastering the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment with Cancer Vaccines
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Mastering the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment with Cancer Vaccines

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Tumor Microenvironment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 4227

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Prem Prakash Kushwaha

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
BGES, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Interests: cancer therapeutic resistance; prostate & breast cancer mechanisms; natural product-based drug development; immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment; computational drug discovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a major obstacle in cancer immunotherapy, largely because it actively suppresses immune responses. To make cancer vaccines more effective, we need innovative ways to disrupt or evade this immunosuppressive barrier. This Special Issue will highlight the latest advances in reprogramming TME to boost the power of both therapeutic and preventive cancer vaccines. We invite the submission of original research and in-depth reviews, covering new vaccine technologies, optimal antigen selection, improved adjuvants, advanced delivery systems, and combination strategies such as pairing vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors, cytokine therapies, or stromal-targeting agents. We are especially interested in studies that bridge lab discoveries with real-world clinical applications. Submissions on topics like tumor-infiltrating immune cells, metabolic and stromal influences on immunity, and personalized vaccine design are highly encouraged. By bringing together cutting-edge research, this Special Issue aims to uncover how cancer vaccines can transform the TME and trigger long-lasting anti-tumor immunity.

Dr. Prem Prakash Kushwaha
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • tumor microenvironment
  • cancer vaccines
  • immunosuppression
  • immune modulation
  • checkpoint inhibitors
  • dendritic cell vaccines
  • T cell activation
  • personalized cancer immunotherapy
  • vaccine adjuvants
  • combination immunotherapy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

39 pages, 2332 KB  
Review
SARS-CoV2 and Anti-COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Is There a Plausible Mechanistic Link with Cancer?
by Ciro Isidoro
Cancers 2025, 17(23), 3867; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17233867 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 4078
Abstract
To contrast the COVID-19 pandemic brought by the corona virus SARS-CoV-2, two mRNA-based anti-COVID-19 vaccines (by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) were made available relatively quickly and deployed worldwide based on an emergency approval. Being considered vulnerable and at risk of infection, cancer patients have [...] Read more.
To contrast the COVID-19 pandemic brought by the corona virus SARS-CoV-2, two mRNA-based anti-COVID-19 vaccines (by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) were made available relatively quickly and deployed worldwide based on an emergency approval. Being considered vulnerable and at risk of infection, cancer patients have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination and vaccinated repeatedly because of the short time protection provided by these vaccines. Recently, a surge in the incidence and rapid progression of cancers has been observed in many countries, which could (at least partially) represent cancers undiagnosed or untreated during the pandemic. It has also been suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 itself or even the anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could have contributed to the recurrence and worse clinical outcome in cancer patients, given the high incidence of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients and that these patients have been vaccinated with priority several times and in a short period. Although it appears extremely unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 and anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines elicit genotoxic events and cause neo-cancerogenesis in a short time, they could still cause non-genotoxic pro-carcinogenic effects by triggering an exaggerated inflammatory reaction, compromising immune homeostasis, stimulating cell proliferation, and negatively affecting cellular stress response and damage repair machinery. This could result in the promotion of regrowth of dormant micrometastases or relapses of stable minimal residual disease. Such a harmful outcome may likely result from a synergy between the virus and the vaccine, especially in multi-vaccinated and multi-infected individuals. Here, I bring the cell pathologist’s point of view and discuss the multiple possible mechanisms by which the virus and the anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccine might favor tumorigenesis. While a causal link cannot be established at this stage, knowledge of potential carcinogenic risks could help doctors and health policymakers take the best actions to protect vulnerable patients and convince the vaccine developer to design a vaccine free from such harm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mastering the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment with Cancer Vaccines)
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