What is "sipuleucel-t"

n. A therapeutic cancer vaccine for prostate cancer.

Sipuleucel-T (APC8015, trade name Provenge), manufactured by Dendreon Corporation, is a cell-based cancer immunotherapy for prostate cancer (CaP). It is a personalized treatment that works by programming each patient's immune system to seek out cancer and attack it as if it were foreign.

While referred to as a therapeutic vaccine rather than a preventive vaccine that prevents infectious disease, sipuleucel-T is instead an immunostimulant.

On February 20, 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals received approval to purchase all Dendreon assets (including Provenge).

The treatment cost $93,000 at FDA approval, rising to over $100,000 in 2014.