As we have learned in lecture, dendritic cells are the best APCs, or antigen presenting cells our body has. When dendritic cells bind to foreign and possibly pathogenic material, they digest foreign material and present it for other cells to detect. Through differentiating into key players, and activating our adaptive immune system, dendritic cells are crucial in eliciting an immune response. This response regularly saves our lives when there is an invader. As we can see, these cells might be a powerful target for therapeutic methods.
In addition to the powerful responses dendritic cells can elicit, there are also blockades in place to restrict this immune response in order to prevent our body’s response to becoming harmful to us. Dendritic Cell (DC) Therapy is a fairly new and emerging way of treating cancer patients with vaccines. This therapy works by injecting and promoting dendritic cells to upregulate anti-tumor T cells in response to cancerous tumor cells. Researchers in this field have more recently been exploring molecular pathways that dampen DC’s ability to elicit a T cell response. In an article posted in Science Daily called “Potential boost to immunotherapy,” researchers have recently identified a specific pathway that regulates our immune system cells in lung cancer tumors. This pathway suppresses DC cells leading to anergy, which allows tumors to grow. By downregulating this pathway, researchers were able to increase the number of DC cells, which increases their cancer fighting ability in lung cancer patients.
I explored many clinical trials on the Clinical Trials database. I found that the most recently completed trial using dendritic cell vaccines in lung cancer patients just ended in November of 2019. I read the report and it showed many side effects of this type of therapy including anorexia, nausea, fatigue, weight loss, hyperglycemia, muscle weakness, and hair loss. I also did some research on dose pricing of dendritic cell vaccines and it turns out I did not find any in the US, but one resource stated that in Japan, a years worth of dendritic vaccines were around 2 million yen or $19,000 in the US. However, I do not know if there can be a direct currency transfer because our health systems might work differently. In the US, prices may be much higher if private pharmaceuticals make them so, which I suspect to be the case.
