Carcinoembryonic antigen-presenting autologous dendritic cell

"Carcinoembryonic antigen-presenting autologous dendritic cell" therapy refers to a form of personalized cancer immunotherapy in which a patient's own dendritic cells are collected, matured, and loaded ex vivo with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)—a glycoprotein overexpressed in many carcinomas. These CEA-pulsed dendritic cells function as antigen-presenting cells capable of stimulating robust tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses upon reinfusion into the patient. This cell-based vaccine approach aims to break immune tolerance to CEA-expressing tumor cells and has been evaluated in clinical trials for safety, immunogenicity, and therapeutic efficacy in several types of cancer, including colorectal and lung malignancies. The therapy relies on the antigen-processing and T-cell priming capabilities of the dendritic cell, rather than representing a single molecular target.

Other names

CEA-pulsed autologous dendritic cellCarcinoembryonic antigen-loaded dendritic cellDC (CEA)CEA-DC vaccineCEA antigen-presenting dendritic cell

Induction of tumor antigen-specific T-cell immunity via ex vivo loading of dendritic cells with CEA-derived peptides, RNA, whole protein, or vectors encoding CEA, leading to MHC-mediated presentation and activation of patient T cells upon reinfusion