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Vaccines
Special Issues
Innovations in Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccines: From Bench to Bedside
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Innovations in Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccines: From Bench to Bedside

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 June 2026 | Viewed by 303

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Paul Takam Kamga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
EA4340-BCOH, Biomarker in Cancerology and Onco-Haematology, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, Université Paris Saclay, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Interests: immunotherapy; immunology; cancer and cell biology; targeted therapies; biomarkers; developmental pathways
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has transformed the oncology landscape by leveraging the immune system's ability to detect and eliminate malignant cells. Among the most impactful strategies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell therapies, and cancer vaccines have shown remarkable clinical efficacy across a range of tumor types.

This Special Issue will highlight cutting-edge advancements in immunotherapy and the rapidly evolving field of cancer vaccine development. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that address critical areas including neoantigen identification, mRNA-based cancer vaccines, the modulation of the tumor microenvironment, combination immunotherapeutic approaches, and personalized vaccination strategies.

Particular emphasis will be placed on translational studies that bridge the gap between preclinical discoveries and clinical application, with the goal of accelerating the development of effective, durable, and individualized cancer immunotherapy treatment. By gathering interdisciplinary contributions, this Special Issue will offer a comprehensive overview of current challenges, innovative solutions, and future directions in this field.

We invite submissions of original research articles, systematic reviews, short communications, and other relevant formats. All manuscripts will undergo rigorous peer review in accordance with MDPI’s standards.

We look forward to receiving your contributions to this timely and impactful collection.

Dr. Paul Takam Kamga
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 short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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

  • cancer
  • immunotherapy
  • vaccine
  • preclinical and clinical studies

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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20 pages, 4468 KB  
Brief Report
Modified Hematopoietic Stem Cell-Derived Dendritic Cell Therapy Retained Tumor-Inhibitory Function and Led to Regression of Primary and Metastatic Pancreatic Tumors in Humanized Mouse Models
by Jose D. Gonzalez, Saleemulla Mahammad, Senay Beraki, Ariel Rodriguez-Frandsen, Neha Sheik, Elango Kathirvel, Francois Binette, David Weinstein, Anahid Jewett and Lu Chen
Vaccines 2025, 13(11), 1131; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13111131 - 2 Nov 2025
Viewed by 39
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapies offer a promising strategy for cancer treatment but are limited by inefficient activation of cytotoxic T cells and, in turn, the host immune system. This report demonstrated that CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-derived allogeneic DCs engineered [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapies offer a promising strategy for cancer treatment but are limited by inefficient activation of cytotoxic T cells and, in turn, the host immune system. This report demonstrated that CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-derived allogeneic DCs engineered by an optimized lentiviral vector (LVV) expressing CD93, CD40-ligand (CD40L), and Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand-13 (CXCL13) significantly enhanced the host immune system, activated tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells, and led to complete regression of both primary and metastatic pancreatic tumors in humanized mouse models. This LVV shows comparable pre-clinical efficacy compared to the first-generation vector, in addition to being compliant for clinical use, which allows further pre-clinical development towards the human trials. Methods: This 2nd generation (Gen) LVV incorporates codon-optimized transgenes (CD40L, CD93, and CXCL13) with rearranged sequence to enhance expression, driven by a strong EF1α promoter. CD34+ HSCs were transduced with this modified 2nd Gen LVV and differentiated to Engineered DCs. Therapeutic efficacy of the DC therapy with the modified vector was tested on humanized mouse models of pancreatic tumors. This was accomplished by establishing an early-stage disease model (using MIA PaCa-2 (MP2)-tumors) and late-stage metastatic disease model of the pancreatic tumors to mimic the clinical setting using luciferase-expressing MP2-(Luc)-pancreatic tumor-bearing humanized mice. Results: The modified lentiviral construct had 6-fold greater expression of CD40L, 2% less toxicity, 4.5-fold greater CD40L, and 2.2-fold greater CXCL13 secretion than its predecessor. In vitro, Engineered DCs induced robust T cell proliferation in up to 20% of T cells, up to 4-fold greater interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) secretion than controls, and showcased antigen-specific cytotoxicity by CD8+ T cells. In vivo, two intradermal doses of the 2nd Gen DCs led to complete regression of primary pancreatic tumors and metastases. Treated mice exhibited prolonged survival, indicating the induction of durable anti-tumor immunity. Conclusions: Vector optimization retained the efficacy of DC-based therapy, achieving curative responses in pancreatic tumor models. These findings support the clinical development of this 2nd Gen DC immunotherapy for pancreatic and potentially other tumors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccines: From Bench to Bedside)
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