Dendritic cells (DCs) occupy a privileged position at the interface between 
innate and adaptive immunity, orchestrating a large panel of responses to both 
physiological and pathological cues. In particular, whereas the presentation of 
antigens by immature DCs generally results in the development of immunological 
tolerance, mature DCs are capable of priming robust, and hence therapeutically 
relevant, adaptive immune responses. In line with this notion, functional 
defects in the DC compartment have been shown to etiologically contribute to 
pathological conditions including (but perhaps not limited to) infectious 
diseases, allergic and autoimmune disorders, graft rejection and cancer. Thus, 
the possibility of harnessing the elevated immunological potential of DCs for 
anticancer therapy has attracted considerable interest from both researchers and 
clinicians over the last decade. Alongside, several methods have been developed 
not only to isolate DCs from cancer patients, expand them, load them with 
tumor-associated antigens and hence generate highly immunogenic clinical grade 
infusion products, but also to directly target DCs in vivo. This intense 
experimental effort has culminated in 2010 with the approval by the US FDA of a 
DC-based preparation (sipuleucel-T, Provenge®) for the treatment of asymptomatic 
or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-refractory prostate cancer. As an 
update to the latest Trial Watch dealing with this exciting field of research 
(October 2012), here we summarize recent advances in DC-based anticancer 
regimens, covering both high-impact studies that have been published during the 
last 13 mo and clinical trials that have been launched in the same period to 
assess the antineoplastic potential of this variant of cellular immunotherapy.