autologous tumor-associated antigen-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine (Cedars-Sinai)

This autologous dendritic cell vaccine is an investigational immunotherapy developed by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the treatment of high-grade gliomas, including glioblastoma and brain stem gliomas. The therapeutic process involves harvesting a patient's own peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which are then differentiated into dendritic cells in vitro. These dendritic cells are subsequently pulsed (loaded) with specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) derived from the patient's tumor or synthetic peptides. Once re-administered to the patient, typically via intradermal injection, these primed dendritic cells function as professional antigen-presenting cells. They migrate to regional lymph nodes where they activate and expand tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which are then capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to identify and eliminate malignant glioma cells.

Other names

autologous dendritic cellsTAA-pulsed dendritic cell immunotherapyautologous dendritic cell vaccine