Medicine is advancing and the effectiveness of cancer treatment is improving – this is a fact that is hard to argue with. Patient survival rates are increasing as new, more effective therapies emerge.
It is customary to treat any innovation with caution. Initially, new procedures and drugs are considered experimental and undergo clinical trials. If they are successful, the new procedures are used for certain types of cancer. Gradually, as new trials are conducted, the indications for use are expanded and innovative therapies become standard.
Dendritic cells for cancer are one such innovative treatment. Its path from experimental methodology to first-line therapy has not yet been completed because it takes many years. But today you can already undergo dendritic cell therapy in Germany.
What are dendritic cells and how they help fight cancer
Dendritic cells (DCs) are a type of immune cells. They are responsible for transmitting information about antigens to T-cells.
DCs are the first to encounter an antigen, break it down into small fragments, and present it to T-cells. Thus, DCs are essential for the activation of the T-cell immune response. Without them, T-cells are unable to recognize tumor antigens.
Against the background of cancer, DC activity is reduced. A strong immune response does not develop. But it can be enhanced. If we teach DCs to recognize a tumor, then the DCs will transfer “knowledge” about the antigen to T-cells. In turn, the T-cells learn to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells and attack them.
Dendritic cell treatment is the area of cancer immunotherapy. DC-based drugs are called dendritic cell vaccines.
In what cases are DCs used
Currently, cancer treatment with DCs is an experimental technique. Although some dendritic cell vaccines have been approved for clinical use, such as for prostate cancer, DCs are still in clinical trials for most types of cancer.
DCs are mainly used in:
- Metastatic cancer, in combination with other medicines
- After surgery to remove a tumor, to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence
DCs can be combined with any treatment because they have very low toxicity. Since they are not cytotoxic, dendritic cell vaccines do not cause any damage, but only enhance a person’s anti-tumor immunity. Therefore, they do not cause serious complications. The spectrum of side effects is limited to mild flu-like reactions that persist for several days after vaccination.
DC therapy can be well combined with other immunotherapy methods. They are most commonly combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors and oncolytic viruses.
How dendritic cells are used to treat cancer
Dendritic cell vaccine is not available in a pharmacy. It will not be offered to you in a ready-to-use form at the hospital. The vaccine must be made from your own dendritic cells. DCs can be obtained from monocytes, fibroblasts, or bone marrow stem cells. In standard cases, peripheral blood monocytes are used as a source of DCs.
The principle of treatment is as follows: blood is taken from a person, monocytes are isolated from it, and their maturation into DCs is ensured. These cells are then trained to recognize a specific type of tumor. It is optimal to use biomaterial obtained from the patient’s tumor, for example, after surgery or biopsy.
The process of making the vaccine takes 1 to 3 weeks. It is then injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly. The dosage of cells, the frequency of injections, and the total number of procedures will be determined individually, depending on the type and stage of cancer.DCs are already well established in the treatment of breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, osteosarcoma, glioblastoma and many other oncopathologies. If you want to take advantage of the opportunities of modern medicine, undergo diagnostics and treatment in Germany, visit the Booking Health website. Here you can find out prices, choose a clinic and get services to organize your trip abroad. The cost of treatment for you will be lower than if you apply directly to a medical center, since there are no additional fees for foreign patients.
