Definition

A cell-based personalized cancer vaccine composed of autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with the patient’s own tumor-specific peptides, with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration of the personalized peptides (PEP)-loaded autologous DC vaccine, the DCs activate natural killer cells (NKs) and stimulate a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated immune response against the patient’s tumor cells expressing the PEPs, resulting in tumor cell lysis.