# Dendritic cell vaccines

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/dendritic-cell-vaccines/  
OnCo record `dendritic-cell-vaccines` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Vaccines made from a patient's own antigen-presenting cells loaded with tumour proteins; sipuleucel-T for prostate cancer was the first approved, and newer versions are tested in brain and other cancers.

## Summary

Dendritic cells present antigens to T cells. Sipuleucel-T, approved in 2010 for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, loads the patient's antigen-presenting cells with a prostatic acid phosphatase fusion protein and reinfuses them, prolonging survival modestly. Later dendritic cell vaccines pulsed with tumour lysate or RNA have reached phase 3 in glioblastoma and are combined with checkpoint inhibitors, while off-the-shelf approaches try to target dendritic cells inside the body.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Principle: Leukapheresis harvests monocytes, which are matured into dendritic cells, loaded with antigen and reinfused to prime tumour-specific T cells.
- Since: 2010
- Strengths: Proven survival benefit in prostate cancer; Personalised, low toxicity
- Limitations: Costly, individual manufacturing; Modest response rates as single agents

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipuleucel-T

## Connected records

- cancers: [Glioma & glioblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/glioblastoma/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- fronts: [Immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/immunotherapy/)
- targets: [Prostatic acid phosphatase (ACP3, PAP)](https://onco.cc/targets/pap/)
- drugs: [Sipuleucel-T](https://onco.cc/drugs/sipuleucel-t/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/dendritic-cell-vaccines.json