Nanotechnology for the Development of Nanovaccines in Cancer Immunotherapy

Up until now, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy remain the conventional methods used in cancer treatment. However, these treatments are widely associated with severe side effects due to toxicity on normal cells. Consequently, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches that are able to effectively and selectively target tumor cells without any adverse effects on normal cells. Among the new approaches, cancer immunotherapy seems promising in the fight against tumors thanks to its prolonged efficacy and lower toxicity compared to the traditional treatments. Research studies suggested that both adjuvants and antigens are essential to induce optimal anti-tumor immunity. Among the different delivery strategies, nanotechnology offers several advantages for the design of cancer vaccines. Indeed, nanocarriers can protect the encapsulated antigens and/or adjuvant from enzymatic degradation, sustain and control the release for the entrapped cargo, and enhance the immune responses. Several studies reported that different physical characteristics of nanoparticles affect their uptake in cells and the potential to induce cellular responses. Among them, particle size and surface chemistry resulted the most influent. Clinical trials and recent research papers on the use of nanotechnology in cancer immunotherapy support the idea that this strategy could be successful as weapon against cancer in the near future.