**7. Conclusion**

Designing of novel immunotherapies would require personalized approaches, tailored not only on patient's genetic profiles but also on immunologic tumor characterization. To overcome specific immune inactivation, vaccines against pathogens could become a usable tool in optimized combo-therapies, particularly with checkpoint inhibitors. The role of preexisting immunity on their efficacy has been observed in a few presented studies. In fact, immunization from previous vaccination or previous infections, developed outside the tumor microenvironment, can promote activity of intratumorally delivered preparations. In this light, we warrant future research on available and commercial vaccine preparations to be repurposed as anticancer therapeutic vaccines.

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**Author details**

Public Health Department, Ausl Imola, Imola, Italy

\*Address all correspondence to: mttconti@gmail.com

provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Matteo Conti

*Repurposing Infectious Pathogen Vaccines in Cancer Immunotherapy*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92780*

*Repurposing Infectious Pathogen Vaccines in Cancer Immunotherapy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92780*

*Drug Repurposing - Hypothesis, Molecular Aspects and Therapeutic Applications*

delivery of other therapies (i.e., with systemic CIs) follows.

**6. Future perspective**

escape elimination by immune cells.

available to patients worldwide.

as anticancer therapeutic vaccines.

**7. Conclusion**

Available immunity against pathogen can be checked initially in patients by means of standard serological testing and/or delayed-type hypersensitivity testing. A standard vaccination protocol can be performed when required before starting intratumoral delivery of a corresponding vaccine. Afterward, timely standard

Developments in cancer immunotherapy during the last years have significantly increased our hopes for successfully treating different cancer types. However, the development of new, more effective anticancer immunotherapeutic agents and strategies urges a thorough understanding of the aspects that allow cancer cells to

In addition, there are important clinical, industrial, regulatory, and economic issues that must be addressed, outside the realm of advances in cancer immunology and biology, and that would make all the difference between success or failure in real life. Under the clinical perspective, for instance, there is a strong need to develop a community of trained interventional radiologists/oncologists able to actually translate the presented approaches into practice. This is an issue basically in the hands of training centers and schools of medicine abroad. Of foremost relevance is also the involvement of the industry for all new approaches to actually become

Designing of novel immunotherapies would require personalized approaches, tailored not only on patient's genetic profiles but also on immunologic tumor characterization. To overcome specific immune inactivation, vaccines against pathogens

could become a usable tool in optimized combo-therapies, particularly with checkpoint inhibitors. The role of preexisting immunity on their efficacy has been observed in a few presented studies. In fact, immunization from previous vaccination or previous infections, developed outside the tumor microenvironment, can promote activity of intratumorally delivered preparations. In this light, we warrant future research on available and commercial vaccine preparations to be repurposed

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