Dendritic cells (DCs) are rare leukocytes that are uniquely potent in their recent application to therapeutic cancer vaccines. Isolated DCs loaded with tumour antigen ex vivo and administered as a cellular vaccine have been found to induce protective and therapeutic anti-tumour immunity. In the present report we describe the most common methods of culturing DCs and delivering tumour antigens and we summarise clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy using DCs-based vaccines.