Refining Dendritic Cell-Based Cancer Vaccines: Subset Targeting, Translational Barriers, and Emerging Strategies

Dendritic cells (DCs) are pivotal regulators of immune responses, capable of initiating robust adaptive immunity through antigen presentation. As the most potent antigen-presenting cells, they have emerged as central components of cancer immunotherapy. Over the last decade, advances in molecular engineering, bioinformatics, and nanomedicine have transformed the design of DC-based vaccines. Strategies now include personalized neoantigen loading, mRNA-electroporation, nanoparticle-mediated delivery, and combinatorial regimens with immune checkpoint inhibitors. In addition, emerging approaches that target DC subsets in vivo, especially cDC1s, have demonstrated enhanced efficacy in preclinical and early clinical studies. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the biological roles of DCs and evaluates the evolution of DC vaccine platforms while also highlighting new technologies and clinical insights that aim to tumor-induced immunosuppression suppression and improve therapeutic outcomes.