Researchers at EPFL published strategies for engineering dendritic cell progenitors to express extracellular‑vesicle internalizing receptors (EVIR) and an instructive chimeric antigen receptor (iCAR) that together enhance tumor‑antigen uptake and dendritic cell activation. In preclinical melanoma models resistant to checkpoint blockade, engineered cells elicited strong T‑cell responses and slowed tumor growth. Work appeared in Nature Communications and Science Translational Medicine and details two complementary bioengineering approaches: EVIR to increase in vivo uptake of tumor extracellular vesicles, and ubiquitination‑resistant iCARs to coordinate antigen capture with dendritic cell activation and IL‑12 production. The papers provide a clear preclinical path to next‑generation dendritic cell immunotherapies that exploit tumor EVs for more complete antigen repertoires and stronger T‑cell priming. Translation will hinge on scalability of dendritic cell progenitor manufacture and safety of receptor engineering.