Cancer of the skin is by far the most common of all
cancers. Although the incidence of
melanoma is relatively low among
skin cancers, it can account for a high number of
skin cancer deaths. Since the start of deeper insight into the mechanisms of
melanoma tumorigenesis and their strong interaction with the immune system, the development of new therapeutical strategies has been continuously rising. The high number of
melanoma cell mutations provides a diverse set of
antigens that the immune system can recognize and use to distinguish
tumor cells from normal cells.
Peptide-based synthetic anti-
tumor vaccines are based on
tumor antigens that elicit an immune response due to antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Although targeting APCs with
peptide antigens is the most important assumption for
vaccine development,
peptide antigens alone are poorly immunogenic. The immunogenicity of
peptide antigens can be improved not only by synthetic modifications but also by the assistance of adjuvants and/or delivery systems. The current review summarizes the different chemical approaches for the development of effective
peptide-based
vaccines for the immunotherapeutic treatment of advanced
melanoma.