Microparticles and Nanoparticles for Cancer-Targeting Vaccines

Cancer vaccines need to promote robust cellular tumor-specific immune responses capable of overcoming the immunosuppressive microenvironments within the cancer patient if they are to exhibit therapeutic benefit. Biodegradable polymer-based microparticles (MPs) and nanoparticles (NPs) offer the opportunity to contribute to the stimulation of such responses, and they also possess important advantages over many other vaccine modalities in terms of tunability and safety. This chapter focuses on MP- and NP-based delivery systems for cancer vaccines, beginning with a brief introduction into polymer-based delivery of antigens and adjuvants. Emphasis will be placed on the parameters (eg, size, type of adjuvant) that influence the magnitude and type of immune response generated by MP and NP vaccines as well as elaborating on the motivation for codelivering antigens and adjuvants together rather than separately. Preclinical studies using MP and NP formulations for novel cancer vaccine delivery systems will be discussed.