Antigenicity and adjuvanticity co-reinforced personalized cell vaccines based on self-adjuvanted hydrogel for post-surgical cancer vaccination

Cancer vaccine-based postsurgical immunotherapy is emerging as a promising approach in patients following surgical resection for inhibition of tumor recurrence. However, low immunogenicity and insufficient cancer antigens limit the widespread application of postoperative cancer vaccines. Here, we propose a “trash to treasure” cancer vaccine strategy to enhance postsurgical personalized immunotherapy, in which antigenicity and adjuvanticity of purified surgically exfoliated autologous tumors (with whole antigen repertoire) were co-reinforced. In the antigenicity and adjuvanticity co-reinforced personalized vaccine (Angel-Vax), polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid (pIC) and tumor cells that have undergone immunogenic death are encapsulated in a self-adjuvanted hydrogel formed by cross-linking of mannan and polyethyleneimine. Angel-Vax exhibits an enhanced capacity on antigen-presenting cells stimulation and maturation compared to its individual components in vitro. Immunization with Angel-Vax provokes an efficient systemic cytotoxic T-cell immune response, contributing to the satisfied prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy in mice. Furthermore, when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), Angel-Vax effectively prevented postsurgical tumor recurrence, as evidenced by an increase in median survival of approximately 35% compared with ICI alone. Unlike the cumbersome preparation process of postoperative cancer vaccines, the simple and feasible approach herein may represent a general strategy for various kinds of tumor cell-based antigens in the inhibition of postsurgical tumor relapse by reinforced immunogenicity.