Dendritic cell vaccines in immunotherapy of gynecological malignancies: current strategies and clinical perspectives

Immunotherapeutic vaccines are a promising direction in the treatment of oncological diseases. In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of interaction between the immune system and tumor cells and in developing strategies to overcome tumor immunosuppression. Aim of the study was to systematize modern data on the development and clinical use of dendritic cell (DC) vaccines for the treatment of gynecological cancer, evaluate their effectiveness, identify key limitations and promising strategies for enhancing the antitumor response. Material and methods. The PubMed, Google Scholar and eLIBRARY.RU databases were used to write the literature review. Results. Clinical studies demonstrate that DC vaccines are capable of inducing a specific antitumor immune response, increasing relapse-free and overall survival in patients with gynecological cancers. The greatest efficiency is observed in combination with chemotherapy, especially when using personalized vaccines based on autologous tumor lysates or neoantigens. However, limitations to their widespread use include response heterogeneity, manufacturing complexity, and the need to optimize the timing of administration relative to other treatments. Conclusions. DC vaccines represent a promising direction for immunotherapy of gynecologic malignancies, but require further research to overcome current limitations. The development of personalized approaches and combination strategies could significantly improve their clinical effectiveness.

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