Dendritic cell therapy has no side effects for me, except for a touch of flu, which means that the treatment is catching on. It does cause a temporary fever, which usually starts about an hour after the injection. Over the course of eight hours, the fever rises a little, in my case up to about 39.5 C (102 F). Somehow it feels fine—I feel as though something positive is happening—I don’t feel ill. Although it’s a real fever, somehow my body knows that I need this. And the results are fantastic. My MRI scans over the past five years have confirmed that the treatment has been successful.

In my case, the dendritic cell therapy’s symptoms were minimal and lasted no more than two days. The hyperthermia was uncomfortable for me personally, but it only took three hours. There were no side effects from the treatment. After that I felt better and could do what I wanted. So the treatment did not exhaust me and because I was not exhausted, it was much easier to stay optimistic. Harmen Wagenmakers, long-time survivor of Stage IV bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) Harmen Wagenmakers, long-time survivor of Stage IV bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)