Overview Of Dendritic Cell Vaccines For Brain Tumors

Dendritic cells guide the response of t cells to fight off invaders.

Overview of dendritic cell vaccines for brain tumors.

This new vaccine approach focuses on dendritic cells which brody calls the generals of the immune system s army. 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. Tumor cells however hijack the immune system causing t cell exhaustion and dc dysfunction. It s made with tissue from each participant s brain tumor.

Dc based immunotherapy is safe and can promote antitumor immune responses and prolonged survival of cancer patients. 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. However this treatment fails to show clinical benefit in many patients. Dc vaccine has been introduced as a new therapeutic strategy in cancer patients.

The vaccine is called dcvax l. Dendritic cells dcs are essential in immunity owing to their role in activating t cells thereby promoting antitumor responses. 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 is combined with dendritic immune cells from the person s blood.

Dendritic cells dcs are powerful antigen presenting cells for the induction of antigen specific t cell response. Gliomas typically arise from two different cell types in the brain astrocytes or oligodendrocytes.