Dendritic cell-based vaccine for pancreatic cancer in Japan

Figure 1 The dendritic cells play central roles in deciding the direction of host immune reactions as well as antigen presentation. A: Role of various dendritic cells in CD4⁺ T-cell differentiation; B: Antigen presentation and CTL induction under Th1 condition. CTL: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes; DC: Dendritic cell.

Figure 2 A Th1-inducing type of dendritic cell vaccine, Vaccell is made as follows. A: Preparation of the DC vaccine “Vaccell”; B and C: Vaccell for pancreatic cancer patients; B: Two hundred fifty five patients who received standard chemotherapy combined with DC vaccines were analyzed. DTH skin reaction after vaccination was an independent prognostic factor for better survival; B: The WT1-specific DTH positive patients showed significantly improved OS and PFS compared with the DTH negative patients[20,21]. DC: Dendritic cell; DTH: Delayed type hypersensitivity; PFS: Progressive-free survival; OS: Overall survival.