Overview Of Dendritic Cell Vaccines For Brain Tumors

Dendritic cells dcs are essential in immunity owing to their role in activating t cells thereby promoting antitumor responses.

Overview of dendritic cell vaccines for brain tumors.

Gliomas typically arise from two different cell types in the brain astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. 4 clinical trials underway have demonstrated the successful application of dc vaccines to induce antitumor. However this treatment fails to show clinical benefit in many patients. 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.

This is combined with dendritic immune cells from the person s blood. 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. Dendritic cells guide the response of t cells to fight off invaders. Tumor induced t cell exhaustion may be reversed through immune checkpoint blockade icb.

Dc vaccine has been introduced as a new therapeutic strategy in cancer patients. The vaccine is called dcvax l. Dc based immunotherapy is safe and can promote antitumor immune responses and prolonged survival of cancer patients. Brain tumors are a diverse group of biologically and pathologically distinct intracranial neoplasms that include tumors of neuroepithelial tissue gliomas meningeal tumors and primary lymphomas of the central nervous system non gliomas see buckner et al 2007 for review.

This new vaccine approach focuses on dendritic cells which brody calls the generals of the immune system s army. 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.