The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has ushered in a new, golden age for cancer immunotherapy. However, their clinical success remains limited in several solid cancer types because of the low intrinsic immunogenicity of tumors and the development of immune escape mechanisms. Cancer stem cells (CSC), a small population of cancer cells that are responsible for tumor onset, metastatic spread and relapse after treatment, play a pivotal role in resistance to ICIs. The development of novel therapies that can target CSCs would thus improve the outcomes of current immunotherapy regimens. In this light, vaccines that target CSCs are a promising strategy. This paper briefly describes the immunologic properties of CSCs and their antigenic profile, and reviews current preclinical and clinical approaches that combine CSC-targeting vaccines with different synergistic therapies for the development of more effective antineoplastic treatments.

免疫检查点抑制剂 (ICI) 的引入为癌症免疫疗法迎来了一个新的黄金时代。然而，由于肿瘤的低内在免疫原性和免疫逃逸机制的发展，它们在几种实体癌类型中的临床成功仍然有限。癌症干细胞 (CSC) 是一小群癌细胞，负责治疗后肿瘤的发生、转移扩散和复发，在对 ICI 的抵抗中起着关键作用。因此，开发可以靶向 CSC 的新疗法将改善当前免疫治疗方案的结果。有鉴于此，针对 CSC 的疫苗是一种很有前景的策略。本文简要描述了 CSC 的免疫学特性及其抗原特征，