Over the past century, various efforts have been made to induce the rejection of cancerous tissues by the stimulation of an immune reaction, using both non-specific and antigen-specific strategies. Non-specific approaches attempt to augment an immune response in and around the tumor by injecting immune stimulating substances, for example, bacterial extracts, cytokines or gene therapy agents. Antigen-specific approaches use either the tumor cells themselves as a source of antigens or incorporate identified tumor-associated antigens into vaccines. This review describes antigen-specific therapeutic cancer vaccines that are currently in development.