A method for treating a tumor includes administering (i) a vaccine that contains stage-specific embryonic antigen 4 conjugated to a carrier, (ii) an antibody that binds specifically to SSEA-4, and (iii) immune cells expressing a chimeric antigen receptor that specifically binds to SSEA-4. The tumor, which expresses SSEA-4, can be a breast, colon, gastrointestinal, kidney, lung, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, rectal, stomach, testicular, thymic, cervical, prostate, bladder, skin, nasopharyngeal, esophageal, oral, head and neck, bone, cartilage, muscle, lymph node, bone marrow, or brain tumor.
