Dendritic cells are powerful antigen presenting cells that stimulate antigen specific T cell responses. The new approach to cancer treatment uses DC vaccine as the therapeutic strategy. This immunotherapy has proven to be very effective in promoting antitumor immune responses, which prolongs a patient's survival. While it has not yet been proven that DC-based vaccines are an effective treatment for cancer patients, the potential is enormous. While dendritic cell and tumor cell cancer vaccines have a long way to go before being approved, recent clinical trials have shown encouraging results. A dendritic cell vaccine containing tumor antigens has been approved for prostate cancer. Several other tumor types may benefit from dendritic cell vaccination as well. Currently, only one type of cancer is known to respond to the immunotherapy.
Researchers are focusing on new strategies to improve the efficiency of these dendritic cell and tumor cell cancer vaccines. These include improved methods of generating dendritic cells and alternative antigen combinations. These strategies have also been studied in terms of the utilization of non-conventional agents such as RNA. The first phase of clinical trials included four patients with follicular lymphoma. This phase I study is expected to provide more detailed results in the future. Although the treatment is not without side effects, the initial study demonstrates the potential for improving the patient's survival. The findings show that the treatment has a strong potential to improve patient outcomes.
Along with cancer vaccines, dendritic cells have also been successfully used as therapeutic agents for other types of disease. Adenovirus-based therapy has shown promising results in many different cancers. This treatment is an effective way to improve the quality of patient’s life. There are several advantages of dendritic cell and tumor cell cancer vaccines. It can increase body's ability to recognize and kill the tumor. These vaccines stimulate the immune system to recognize tumor antigens, which are the key to preventing cancer. The dendritic cells are important for promoting an antitumor immune response. The DCs can also activate memory T cells and trigger spontaneous antitumor T cell responses. On February 26, 2022, Northwest Biotherapeutics announced that the company has started production of its first dendritic cell cancer vaccine to use it in treatment of gliobastoma patient in its UK production facility in Sawston.