How therapeutic anticancer vaccines are produced?

Once the antigens for a vaccine have been identified and chosen, they need to be incorporated into the vaccine itself. Antigens are protein molecules made up of individual building blocks – one of 20 different amino acids – joined together in a particular order. Different parts of the immune system are able to recognize either whole proteins or fragments of proteins called peptides. Proteins and peptides can be incorporated into vaccines directly, by using the tumor as the source of the proteins or peptides, or indirectly, by producing synthetic proteins or peptides in a laboratory. When protein or peptide-based vaccines are delivered to a patient, the adjuvant activates antigen-presenting cells, which pick up the vaccine proteins or peptides and initiate an immune response against the antigens.