Definition

A dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer vaccine composed of autologous DCs pulsed with specific tumor-associated peptide antigens (TAPA), with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration, autologous TAPA-pulsed DC vaccine exposes the immune system to the specific TAPAs, which may result in cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated immune responses against the TAPA-expressing cancer cells. This leads to cancer cell lysis. This vaccine is specific towards peptides derived from the following proteins: sperm autoantigenic protein 17 (SP17), ropporin, A-kinase anchor protein 4 (AKAP4), pituitary tumor-transforming 1 (PTTG1) and SPANX family member B (SPANX-B).