Dendritic cell therapy
Dendritic cell therapy is cancer treatment tailored to the patient’s own immune system. It takes advantage of the dendritic cell’s ability to present tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and initiate the immune system. In addition to the TAAs, dendritic cells control inflammation by regulating cytokine and chemokine gradients. With dendritic cell therapy, instead of repeatedly injecting the patient with these cells, the goal is to activate the ones already in the tumor. Currently, the only FDA approved dendritic cell therapy is Sipuleucel-T (Provenge).
Prostate Cancer
Provenge targets prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) to treat slow-growing prostate cancer. “Slow-growing” is important to set up this kind of treatment. Prostate cancer is a common form of cancer for men in the U.S.; the estimate of new cases this year is around 190,000. Along with the high number of cases, there is a high mortality rate- 1 in 41 American men will die of prostate cancer. Finding the right treatment becomes a higher priority for such a prominent disease, but is Provenge effective?
Provenge
NCBI states that it indeed is, citing a study where the drug was compared to a placebo- the study showed a statistically significant increase in overall survival, showing that Provenge is effective. However, there are other downsides to this drug: the cost and side effects. This treatment is very expensive, the full treatment costing around $93,000 (this price varies per manufacturer). The side effects include chills, fever, and headache, but nothing that can’t be endured to avoid death. More studies need to be done to combine Provenge with maybe not painkillers but rather other immunotherapies to optimize its potential.
Microbiology 