Fig. 10

Mechanisms responsible for promoting tumor immunity and generating effective T-cell responses against tumors within the human body. TCVs activate the immune response by presenting cancer antigens to DCs, activating CTLs that provide long-term immunity. A Developing immunity against cancer is cyclic and involves both immunostimulatory and inhibitory factors. The cycle consists of seven main steps, starting with the release of antigens from cancer cells and ending with their eradication. TCVs and combination immunotherapy affect particular phases of the cancer immune cycle. In addition, blocking PD-L1 or PD-1 can eliminate the suppression of T-cell-mediated cancer cell death. Vaccines boost the presentation of the cancer antigen. Anti-CTLA4 promotes the priming and activation of antigen-specific T cells. B DCs in the TME or peripheral blood interact with tumor antigens, which triggers the immune system to produce antitumor T-cell responses. These antigens are delivered to T cells by activated DCs, which causes effector and memory T cells to be activated and differentiate. Once cancer cells are targeted and destroyed, memory T cells can produce an effective secondary response when subjected to subsequent exposure to the same tumor antigen. Adapted with permission from [199] (Copyright Elsevier, 2021)