Medically reviewed by Prof. Shimon Slavin, MD. Updated: June 2026
Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy intended to activate the immune system in response to the presence of cancer cells. Unlike preventive vaccines against infectious diseases, therapeutic cancer vaccines are intended for patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer. Personalized cancer vaccines are also known as autologous cancer vaccines because they are prepared from the patient’s own tumor tissue. Their goal is not prevention, but to stimulate an immune response directed against the patient’s tumor.
What Is a Personalized Cancer Vaccine?
In many types of cancer, malignant cells carry surface markers known as tumor antigens that differ slightly from those of healthy cells. In a patient with cancer, the immune system has not mounted a sufficient response against these markers, which is why the disease was able to develop.
The goal of personalized cancer vaccine treatment is to make tumor antigens more visible to the immune system. When the immune system begins to respond, it may recognize and attack the tumor cells. This process is sometimes described as turning a “cold” tumor, one that the immune system barely notices, into a “hot” tumor, one that it begins to actively attack.
Each autologous cancer vaccine is prepared individually using material derived from the patient’s own tumor tissue, rather than a standardized or synthetic preparation.
How Personalized Cancer Vaccines Are Prepared from Tumor Tissue
At Biotherapy International, personalized cancer vaccines are prepared from the patient’s own cryopreserved tumor tissue. The starting material is a tumor lysate, an extract derived from the tumor tissue. On its own, this material is typically not sufficiently immunogenic and may not trigger a strong immune response. To make it immunogenic, it is combined with an oncolytic virus. As the immune system responds to viral components, it may simultaneously begin to recognize the tumor antigens present in the vaccine preparation. Additional immune-activating components may be incorporated into the vaccine when clinically appropriate.
The composition of the vaccine and the overall treatment strategy are determined based on the patient’s diagnosis, clinical situation, and available tumor material.
When to Consider a Cancer Vaccine
Personalized cancer vaccine treatment may be considered in several clinical situations:
- After surgery, when tumor tissue has been removed and preserved for potential vaccine preparation
- After completion of primary treatment, when the tumor burden has been reduced
- As part of a personalized immunotherapy program in combination with other immune-based approaches
Why Is It Important to Freeze Tumor Tissue During Surgery?
If surgery is planned, the patient may discuss with the surgeon in advance the possibility of cryopreserving a portion of the removed tumor tissue for potential future use in vaccine preparation.
The opportunity to collect and cryopreserve tumor tissue is most reliably available at the time of surgery. Once primary treatment has been completed, obtaining a new tumor sample may become significantly more difficult and, in some cases, impossible. For this reason, the question of tumor tissue cryopreservation is best discussed before surgery.
Cryopreserved tumor tissue may be used to prepare a personalized cancer vaccine months or even years after surgery, preserving additional options for future personalized immunotherapy. Early cryopreservation allows tumor material to be stored while it is readily available and before subsequent treatments may affect the characteristics of the tumor tissue.
Tumor tissue from patients treated at Biotherapy International or referred by partner clinics is stored at our Tumor Bank. When needed, vaccine preparation may use material stored at the Tumor Bank as well as samples transferred from other hospitals, tissue banks, or medical institutions.
Cancer Vaccine Treatment in Germany
Cancer vaccine therapy as part of a personalized immunotherapy program may be provided at Biotherapy International’s partner clinic in Germany. Patients interested in cancer vaccine treatment in Germany are invited to send their medical records for review. Following analysis of the diagnosis, treatment history, and available tumor material, the feasibility of vaccine preparation is assessed and a treatment program is proposed.
Learn more about treatment in Germany →
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