Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors: Advances in Translational Research and Clinical Application

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical antigen-presenting cells that orchestrate the interface between innate and adaptive immunity, making them attractive approaches for cancer immunotherapy. Recent advances in the characterization of DC subsets, antigen delivery strategies, and adjuvant design have enabled the enhancement of DC-based vaccines for solid tumors. Clinical studies across melanoma, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer have demonstrated safety and immunogenicity, with encouraging signals of clinical efficacy, particularly when DC vaccination is combined with immune checkpoint blockade or personalized neoantigen approaches. However, translational barriers remain, including the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, inefficient DC migration, and variability in manufacturing protocols. Developing solutions such as in vivo DC targeting, biomaterials-based delivery systems, high-resolution single-cell analyses, and artificial intelligence-driven epitope prediction are controlled to overcome these challenges. Together, these innovations highlight the evolving role of DC immunotherapy as a foundation of precision oncology, offering the potential to integrate personalized vaccination strategies into standard treatment paradigms for solid tumors. Therefore, in this review, we specifically focus on these advances in dendritic cell immunotherapy for solid tumors and their translational implications.

Keywords: cancer vaccines; dendritic cell immunotherapy; solid tumors; tumor microenvironment.

Figure 1

Expanded challenges and potential solutions for DC-based cancer vaccines. A schematic illustration of the major obstacles hampering the efficacy of DC-based immunotherapy and corresponding strategies to overcome them. The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, characterized by Tregs, MDSCs, inhibitory cytokines, and checkpoint molecules, can be reprogrammed using checkpoint blockade or immunostimulatory adjuvants. Limited DC migration and homing due to poor CCR7 expression may be addressed by genetic engineering and chemokine co-administration. Lack of standardized manufacturing protocols requires GMP-compliant closed culture systems and validated cytokine/quality control methods. Finally, patient-specific variability arising from antigen heterogeneity and immune fitness differences can be mitigated by biomarker-driven personalization and neoantigen-based vaccine design.