Over the years research in the field of cancer immunotherapy has flourished, bringing about crucial breakthroughs, but at the same time revealing new and important pathways of immune suppression that put a break on the success of cancer immunotherapy. This review focuses on how nano- and micromaterials can be used to induce antitumor immune responses and what their role in overcoming immune suppression could be. It is now beyond question that this requires elegantly designed particles that can reach their target cells, deliver antigenic cargo and most importantly immune stimulants in order to provoke and sustain antitumor immunity. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.