Dendritic cells belong to a special group of cells of the human immune system. Dendritic cells, monocytes, macrophages, and B lymphocytes are the so called "professional" antigen presenting cells of the immune system. They are the guardians of our immune system and are constantly busy in the body searching bacteria, viruses or tumor cells.
Ralph Marvin Steinman (born 1943) received 2011 Nobel Prize for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity - but he died three days before the announcement. The Committee first ever decided to award the prize posthumously.
Steinman had managed to determine the key role of these cells: for they act as "sentinels" of the immune system. Seen under the microscope dendritic cells have a star shape, intercept with their arms in the body invading pathogens and antigens, disassemble them into fragments and then present them on their surface. Helper and killer T cells - white blood cells that serve the immune system - can recognize these fragments now. A single dendritic cell can activate up to 3,000 T cells and thus trigger a major immune response.
1999 the first patient with cancer has been vaccinated using dendritic cells. Studies confirmed that the dendritic cells, which are taken from the patient, should be loaded with exactly the antigen of the tumor of the patient. The chances of successful treatment increase, the earlier the cancer is detected. The therapy is very safe, since it hardly comes to side effects, over 10,000 patients have been vaccinated with dendritic cells worldwide.
Men's Health Clinic Marbella offers since April 2016 therapy with dendritic cells in advanced bladder-, kidney- and prostatecancer. A committee of oncology-experienced urologists and internists decides in every single case whether this therapy is useful and can be offered to the patient. In prostate cancer the therapy appears to be particularly useful when the standard therapy of hormone ablation fails (castration resistant prostate cancer, CRPS) and the tumor burden is still low. Therefore, therapy with dendritic cells in advanced prostate cancer is included since 2014 in the guideline recommendations of the renowned "American Society for Clinical Oncology" (ASCO). The results of the study AUO AP78 / 13 in which the effectiveness of the dendritic cell therapy is being studied in combination with standard chemotherapy in advanced prostate cancer in 1,200 patients in Europe and the US are eagerly awaited.
If you are suffering from advanced urological tumor disease, feel free to ask us about the possibilities of carrying out a dendritic cell therapy and therapeutic prospects. Contact person: Dr med Erik Schulten.
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