Researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and collaborators had previously demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of an autologous whole tumor cell vaccine, named rWTC-MBTA, to prevent primary tumor growth and enhance mouse survival in a colon carcinoma model. The vaccine is composed of irradiated entire tumor cells (rWTC) pulsed with mannan-BAM (a pathogen-associated molecular pattern), TLR agonists and anti-CD40 antibody (MBTA).