Immunocine Launches Tumor Preservation Program and Expands Personalized Dendritic Cell Therapy Access
核心洞察
Immunocine (搜索) introduced Immunocine Preserve, a tumor-tissue collection and storage program that provides up to two years of cryopreservation to support future personalized dendritic cell therapy.
The company opened a second treatment location in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, expanding access to its double-loaded dendritic cell therapy alongside its established Cancún facility.
Immunocine (搜索)'s IDCT protocol uses patient-specific tumor-derived proteins and mRNA to educate dendritic cells (搜索), aiming to stimulate a targeted immune response tailored to each patient's cancer (搜索) biology.
As personalized cancer (搜索) immunotherapy continues to attract growing interest, Immunocine (搜索) is introducing Immunocine Preserve, a specialized tumor-tissue collection and preservation program designed to address one of the most important practical challenges in personalized dendritic cell therapy: obtaining viable tumor tissue.
For patients considering personalized immunotherapy, the tumor itself can be an essential part of the treatment process. Immunocine (搜索)'s Dendritic Cell Treatment (IDCT) uses patient-specific tumor information to create a personalized immune-targeting approach. The company's proprietary Double-Loaded technology is designed to educate dendritic cells (搜索) using tumor-derived information through complementary immune pathways.
The challenge is that conventional surgical and pathology workflows are designed primarily for diagnosis—not for preserving tumor material for future personalized cell therapy. Tissue may be fixed, processed, or otherwise handled in ways that make it unsuitable for subsequent therapeutic processing. Immunocine (搜索) Preserve was created to provide patients and their surgical teams with another option.
Preserving the Patient's Tumor Means Preserving an Option
The program provides a dedicated kit that can be supplied to a surgeon or interventional radiologist before a procedure. When appropriate and medically feasible, tumor tissue can be collected using the kit, returned to Immunocine (搜索) Preserve, processed, and placed into secure long-term storage for potential future use. Immunocine Preserve currently provides up to two years of storage as part of the program.
"The tumor is the blueprint. If we want to build a truly personalized immune response, we need to preserve the information that makes that response personal," said Dr. Matt Halpert, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Immunocine (搜索). "Too often, patients undergo surgery and discover later that the tissue they would have needed for our personalized therapy has already been altered or is no longer available. Immunocine Preserve is about protecting that option before it disappears."
Dr. Halpert, one of the scientists involved with the discovery and study of double-loaded dendritic cell technology, added, "Personalized cancer (搜索) therapy starts with the tissue. The closer we can stay to the patient's unadulterated tumor biology, the more faithfully we can preserve the information that may ultimately be used to educate that patient's immune system. Immunocine (搜索) Preserve was created to make that possible before conventional cancer treatment changes the equation."
"One of the most important steps in preparing the dendritic cell vaccine at Immunocine (搜索) is obtaining a sample of the tumor," said Dr. Stephen Noga, MD, Ph.D., Immunocine Chief Medical Officer. "Of course, we can acquire this in Cancun or Cabo San Lucas. However, many patients have surgery prior to this and very little tumor remains." Noga added, "With the creation of Immunocine Preserve, we have developed a simple kit that your surgeon can use at the time of surgery to house the tumor sample and safely transport it to our facility for processing. This material is then properly processed and cryopreserved and remains usable until you come to Immunocine for treatment."
A Simple Intervention at a Critical Moment
The program's current tumor-tissue guidelines call for a sample of at least approximately the size of a pencil eraser, with more active tumor tissue preferred. The preserved material can then remain available for potential future preparation of an Immunocine (搜索) personalized dendritic cell treatment. Preservation itself does not guarantee that a patient will ultimately qualify for Immunocine treatment or that treatment will produce a particular outcome; eligibility is determined through a subsequent medical evaluation.
"In cancer (搜索) care, preserving possibilities can be just as important as making decisions," said Vita Salsman, Executive Director. "Immunocine (搜索) Preserve gives patients a way to protect something uniquely theirs—the biological information contained in their own tumor—before that opportunity is lost."
Expanding Access to Double-Loaded Dendritic Cell Therapy
Responding to a growing number of patients seeking personalized cancer (搜索) immunotherapy, Immunocine Cancer Center (搜索) has opened a second treatment location in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, expanding access to its patented double-loaded dendritic cell therapy while increasing clinical and laboratory capacity. The new center complements Immunocine (搜索)'s established Cancún location and was developed to meet rising patient demand without compromising the individualized care or scientific standards that define the company's treatment program.
"Opening our Cabo San Lucas location isn't just about adding capacity—it's about meeting patients where they are in their journey. Every operational decision we make is built around making a complex treatment feel navigable at a moment when patients need that most," said Salsman.
Unlike conventional cancer (搜索) therapies that broadly target cancer cells, Immunocine (搜索)'s dendritic cell therapy is designed to educate the immune system using each patient's own tumor biology, helping it identify and attack that individual's cancer. Halpert, a former Baylor College of Medicine cancer immunologist, was part of the team that developed the double-loaded dendritic cell technology, which combines proteins and messenger RNA (mRNA) derived from a patient's preserved tumor tissue with the patient's own dendritic cells (搜索)—the immune system's primary antigen-presenting cells. By presenting multiple tumor-specific signals and unblocking dendritic cell inhibitory signals in a physiological manner, the therapy is designed to stimulate a targeted and robust immune response tailored to the biology of each patient's cancer.
Manufacturing Constraints and Clinical Standards
According to Dr. Noga, the decision to expand was driven by both patient need and the unique scientific requirements of manufacturing personalized dendritic cell therapies. "Over the past several years, patient demand has continued to increase, but dendritic cell therapy cannot simply be scaled by adding more treatment rooms. Every patient's therapy must be individually manufactured in a highly specialized laboratory following current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards—a process that requires time, precision, and rigorous quality control. That laboratory process is one of the factors that determines how many patients can be treated."
Dr. Noga added, "We spent years identifying the right location and nearly two years recruiting, training, and certifying our physicians, nurses, laboratory scientists, and cell-processing personnel. The Cabo San Lucas location mirrors our Cancún facility in both treatment paradigm and scientific underpinnings, and extensive cross-training has ensured that patients receive the same protocols, the same scientific oversight, and the same standard of care."
"For many patients, time matters. By increasing our treatment capacity, we're able to reduce waiting times while maintaining the meticulous manufacturing and quality standards that personalized cellular therapies require. Our responsibility is not only to provide access, but to ensure that every treatment is produced with the scientific rigor and consistency patients deserve," he continued.
Immunocine Cancer Center (搜索) traces its scientific origins to Houston, Texas, including research conducted within the Texas Medical Center. Today, Immunocine (搜索) provides its clinical treatment program in Mexico, where patient care is delivered by licensed medical professionals under applicable Mexican healthcare regulations. While the destination can be requested by each patient during the review process, ultimately the Immunocine medical staff will determine the most appropriate location for each patient based on their clinical needs, the urgency of care, and the facility's capacity to provide timely and appropriate treatment.