Overview Of Dendritic Cell Vaccines For Brain Tumors

Of the various forms of immunotherapy dendritic cell dc based therapies are well situated to be used to induce antitumor immunity given the specialized ability of dcs to both prime and or boost innate and adaptive immune responses.

Overview of dendritic cell vaccines for brain tumors.

That being said once inside the cns the action of the immune system and the potential for antitumor response is markedly different from other sites in the body. The vaccine is called dcvax l. Tumor cells however hijack the immune system causing t cell exhaustion and dc dysfunction. Dc based immunotherapy is safe and can promote antitumor immune responses and prolonged survival of cancer patients.

Tumor induced t cell exhaustion may be reversed through immune checkpoint blockade icb. This is combined with dendritic immune cells from the person s blood. This new vaccine approach focuses on dendritic cells which brody calls the generals of the immune system s army. Dendritic cells guide the response of t cells to fight off invaders.

4 clinical trials underway have demonstrated the successful application of dc vaccines to induce antitumor. Dendritic cells dcs are powerful antigen presenting cells for the induction of antigen specific t cell response. Dendritic cells dcs are essential in immunity owing to their role in activating t cells thereby promoting antitumor responses. Additionally in the presence of a tumor there can be significant blood brain barrier breakdown as well as tumor infiltrating dendritic cells macrophages and b and t lymphocytes.

Gliomas typically arise from two different cell types in the brain astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. However this treatment fails to show clinical benefit in many patients.