Shigetaka Shimodaira, Terutsugu Koya, Yumiko Higuchi, Masato Okamoto and Shigeo Koido
In the era of personalized cancer therapy, immunotherapy is now emerging as a potential option. Therapeutic cancer vaccination has been developed for the induction of an efficient immune response targeting tumor-associated antigens. The efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines is attributed to their ability to induce immunity against cancers. Criteria for the approval of therapeutically active DCs, such as their viability and purity, are here verified based on phenotypic characteristics, linked to their antigen-presenting ability and functional analyses of phagocytosis and pinocytosis. A standardized phenotype of DCs harboring bioactive functions would be useful to provide personalized vaccines for cancer immunotherapy.