Cancer immunotherapy and immunology increasingly focuses on antibody development; however, there are multiple ways to re-engage the immune system in assisting with clearing cancer. The Trant Lab at the University of Windsor, Canada is working on three complementary methods (both to each other and to the antibody paradigm) to improve cancer immunotherapeutics. These include the preparation of anticancer vaccines based on modified and stabilized carbohydrates; the development of molecules able to modulate the tumour microenvironment to render it less pleasant for tumour cells, and more favourable for healthy tissue looking to resist tumour invasion and metastasis; and the design of new small molecules to stimulate the invariant natural killer T-cell system. Through cross-fertilization, these disparate disruptive projects inform each other to drive innovation in cancer immunotherapy. This presentation will provide an overview of these methods with a focus on recent results, and a discussion on what needs to be considered in these fields to avoid common pitfalls.