Autologous Cancer Vaccines: A Precision Immunotherapy Strategy for Veterinary Cancer Patients

Precision medicine is a therapeutic strategy to provide treatment that is tailored to a specific patient based on factors unique to that individual, such as the genetic makeup or the environment. Autologous cancer vaccines (ACVs) are ideal for a precision medicine approach because they incorporate antigens specific to the patient's tumor and provide an elegant solution to identifying and selecting relevant immunogenic neoantigens. ACVs are an appealing option for veterinary medicine because they are cancer-type and species agnostic. Over the past 50 years, many innovative ACVs have been evaluated in dogs, cats, and horses, with demonstrated improvement in patient outcomes. ACVs have been successfully used in chemoimmunotherapy protocols for canine lymphoma and combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor to improve survival of dogs with high-grade glioma. Regardless of ACV formulation or animal species, ACVs appear to be generally well-tolerated. Although there are challenges to commercial development of ACVs for veterinary use, there are many opportunities for comparative oncology studies. ACVs are poised to become a key component of veterinary cancer immunotherapy.