Dendritic cell-based therapeutics for breast cancer

Continual attempts to stimulate the immune system against malignancies have led to the development of various strategies based on active immunotherapy treatments. Dendritic cells are the most potent antigen presenting cells with the capacity to stimulate naive T cells and induce primary and secondary immune responses. Due to the pivotal role that DC play in eliciting and maintaining functional anti-tumor T cell responses, DC have been exploited as vaccines in an attempt to actively immunize patients. Initial solid tumor clinical trials involving DC-based immunization have shown progress in terms of eliciting T-cell reactivity and mediating tumor regression. These early promising data have led to multiple research endeavors to also employ DC immunotherapy for the treatment of poorly immunogenic malignancies such as breast cancer. Various strategies to load DC with tumor associated antigens in murine models of breast cancer as well as the state of human clinical trials are reviewed.