# DCVax-L

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/dcvax-l/  
OnCo record `dcvax-l` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A personalised vaccine made from the patient's own immune cells and tumour. Its 20-year-old phase 3 trial reported longer survival, but the way the result was analysed has divided the field.

## Summary

DCVax-L is made by Northwest Biotherapeutics. Its phase 3 (NCT00045968, enrolled 2007-2015, n=331) published in JAMA Oncology 2023 using an external control comparison after a protocol change from PFS to OS: median OS 19.3 vs 16.5 months (newly diagnosed) and 13.2 vs 7.8 months (recurrent) versus matched external controls. Because almost all placebo patients crossed over and the primary endpoint was changed post hoc, most neuro-oncologists regard the evidence as inconclusive. UK MHRA marketing application submitted December 2023; it was still not FDA-approved in September 2026.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: phase-3
- Last checked: 2026-09-06
- Modality: Autologous dendritic cell vaccine (tumour lysate)
- Mechanism: Autologous dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumour lysate, injected intradermally to prime anti-tumour T cells.

## Notes

- Listed at phase 3 rather than approved; the external-control design and endpoint change are the reasons this remains contested.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00045968: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00045968
- NICE appraisal (in development): https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta10143

## Connected records

- cancers: [Glioma & glioblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/glioblastoma/)
- technologies: [Off-the-shelf cancer vaccines](https://onco.cc/technologies/shared-antigen-vaccine/), [Personalised neoantigen (mRNA) vaccines](https://onco.cc/technologies/neoantigen-mrna-vaccine/)
- companies: [Northwest Biotherapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/northwest-biotherapeutics/)
- trials: [Study of a Drug [DCVax®-L] to Treat Newly Diagnosed GBM Brain Cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/nct00045968/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/dcvax-l.json