Fig. 1.

Advances in DC-based immunotherapy. DC-based therapy has been shown to be very promising but several variables still need to be optimized. Further research is needed to determine the optimal procedure for DC isolation and/or generation, the most efficient maturation stimulus to activate the DC and the optimal method to load DC with antigens. The DC preparation needs to be extensively controlled before administration to the patient and the optimal route of immunization still needs to be defined. An important issue is also the standardization of techniques used for monitoring of the vaccine-induced immune response and the use of objective clinical endpoints. Furthermore, DC-based immunotherapy could benefit from combination with additional therapies