autologous tumor RNA-transfected dendritic cell vaccine

This is an investigational autologous cellular immunotherapy developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of metastatic, androgen-resistant prostate cancer. The vaccine is produced by harvesting a patient's monocytes and differentiating them into dendritic cells (DCs) using cytokines such as GM-CSF and IL-4. These DCs are then transfected with either autologous tumor-derived RNA or RNA from established prostate cancer cell lines (including DU-145, LNCaP, and PC-3). Once administered, these transfected dendritic cells function as professional antigen-presenting cells that prime and activate the patient's cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to recognize and attack prostate cancer-specific antigens, most notably prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Clinical trials have demonstrated that the vaccine is safe and capable of inducing robust tumor-specific immune responses.

Other names

Tumor RNA Transfected Dendritic Cell VaccineRNA-transfected dendritic cell vaccineVA prostate cancer vaccine