NCIt definition : A population of a type of antigen-presenting cell (APC), the dendritic cell (DC),
harvested from a patient and grown in vitro in the presence of tumor-associated antigens
(TAAs) derived from the patient's tumor (a technique known as 'pulsing') and then
injected back into the patient; autologous DCs so manipulated may stimulate a specific
cell-mediated antitumoral cytotoxicity. DCs derived from a patient may also be fused
with the patient's tumor cells in vitro to combine sustained tumor antigen expression
with the antigen-presenting and immunostimulatory capacities of DCs; when injected
back into the patient, these autologous DC-tumor cell hybrids (fusion cells) may stimulate
an active antitumoral immune response.;