Advances in immunotherapy using dendritic cells

The immune system is the host natural defenceagainst cancer. Cancers are caused by progressive growthof the progeny of a single transformed host cell. Theimmune system is generally not able to mount immuneresponses to “self-antigens”, due to various mechanismsof immunological tolerance that are in place. Thismeans that despite possessing a natural defence againsttumours, many of the cancer patients may not be ableto mount an effective immune response to fight thetumours. Dendritic cells (DC) are highly specialisedin antigen presenting that can initiate and stimulateimmune responses. These cells have the ability tostimulate na ve T cell proliferation and perform specificstimulatory and tolerogenic functions respectively.When the DC are activated by antigens, these cellsundergoes further maturation and migrate to secondarylymphoid tissues, present antigen to T cells and finallyinduce an immune response. The ability of the DC toactivate na ve and primed T-lymphocytes makes thesecells a good candidate to be explored as a potentialimmunotherapeutic agent that can modulate antitumourimmune responses in the affected host.