WT1 dendritic cell vaccine

The WT1 dendritic cell vaccine is an investigational cancer immunotherapy that uses autologous (patient-derived) dendritic cells loaded with the Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) antigen—either as mRNA or peptide—to stimulate a targeted immune response against tumors expressing the WT1 protein. The mechanism involves ex vivo generation of mature monocyte-derived dendritic cells from patient blood, which are then pulsed with either synthetic peptides or mRNA encoding the full-length or fragments of the WT1 protein. These antigen-loaded DCs are administered intradermally to induce and amplify cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses specifically targeting cancer cells overexpressing WT1. The approach has been evaluated in phase I/II clinical trials for various advanced solid tumors (including glioblastoma multiforme, malignant pleural mesothelioma, metastatic breast cancer), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (both resectable and unresectable), and acute myeloid leukemia. Clinical studies have shown that this therapy is feasible and safe with mostly mild injection site reactions; it induces robust type 1 CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses associated with improved disease control rates and overall survival compared to historical controls[1][2][3][4][5][6].

Other names

Wilms' tumor 1 dendritic cell vaccineWilms tumor gene 1 mRNA-transfected dendritic cell vaccine