The majority of melanoma vaccines tested to date have been antigen-specific vaccines
targeting melanoma-specific or associated antigens and utilizing a variety of delivery
systems and immune-adjuvants. As opposed to testing an "off the shelf" vaccine that might be
able to treat a subset of patients, our approach has been personalized to the patient and
applicable to all patients. Our vaccine approach consists of harnessing the most potent
antigen presenting cell in the body - the dendritic cell (DC) - together with the full
repertoire of tumor antigens from an individual's cancer. We have conducted phase I and II
studies using an autologous DC-tumor cell fusion technique that has now been simplified into
a DC-tumor cell lysate vaccine. The autologous tumor lysate (TL) is loaded into yeast cell
wall particles (YCWP) that are naturally and efficiently taken up into the patient's DC.
These autologous tumor lysate, particle-loaded, DC (TLPLDC) are injected intradermally (ID)
monthly x 3 followed by boosters at 6, 12, and 18 months.