Possibilities of vaccine therapy for the treatment of glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumor with a median survival of less than two years. Great hopes in the complex treatment of glioblastomas are placed on the use of immunotherapy, including vaccine therapy.
Purpose of the study. To reflect the features of the use of vaccine therapy for brain tumors based on the analysis of modern scientific publications and present the results obtained in Russia and abroad. Materials and methods. The literature search was conducted in the Medline, E-library, PubMed systems.
Results. The review presents data on unsatisfactory results of standard treatment of glioblastomas, characterizes their biological differences that determine weak sensitivity to most types of antitumor therapy and difficulties arising during vaccination; describes the properties of dendritic cells and their significance for the development of one of the main types of vaccines. The results of non-randomized and few randomized studies on the clinical use of vaccine therapy in Russia and abroad, mainly dendritic cell vaccines (DCVs) in patients with glioblastomas are highlighted. The prospects of personalized vaccination are emphasized; the effect of DCVs on some components of the immune system is described, as well as the dual role of exosomes in the development of a malignant process, resistance to treatment and the possibility of their use in creating vaccines. Information on clinical experience with the use of peptide vaccines and vaccines based on matrix RNA is presented.
Conclusion. Despite certain difficulties in the use of vaccine therapy in patients with glioblastomas, encouraging results have been obtained in Russia and abroad. It is emphasized that antitumor vaccines have undoubted potential for the treatment of glioblastomas and are becoming promising methods of immunotherapy that can bring clinical benefit to patients with these most aggressive and difficult to treat malignant tumors.

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