Tumor-associated antigens presented by autologous dendritic cells via MHC class I and II (DC vaccine) (DC vaccine)

Tumor-associated antigens presented by autologous dendritic cells via MHC class I and II refers to a personalized cancer vaccine strategy rather than a single molecular target. This approach involves harvesting a patient's own dendritic cells (DCs), which are then matured and loaded ex vivo with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) derived from the patient's tumor or synthetic sources (Banchereau & Steinman, 1998). These engineered DCs are re-infused into the patient, where they migrate to secondary lymphoid organs to present TAA-derived peptides via Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I to CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and MHC class II to CD4+ helper T cells (Rock et al., 2016). This dual presentation is essential for orchestrating a robust and durable anti-tumor immune response, overcoming the immunosuppressive environment often found in advanced malignancies (Palucka & Banchereau, 2012). While Sipuleucel-T is the most prominent FDA-approved example of this modality for prostate cancer, numerous other DC-based therapies are under investigation for glioblastoma, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma (Kantoff et al., 2010).

Other names

Dendritic cell vaccineDC-based immunotherapyAutologous DC vaccineTAA-pulsed dendritic cellsAntigen-loaded dendritic cellsAutologous cellular immunotherapy

Ex vivo loading of autologous dendritic cells with tumor-associated antigens followed by re-infusion to prime and activate tumor-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells via MHC-mediated antigen presentation (Palucka & Banchereau, 2012).