title: The dendritic cell system and anti-tumour immunity.
abstract: Dendritic cells (DC) are essential for the initiation of T- and T-dependent immune responses by virtue of their capacities to acquire, process and present antigens and to deliver activation signals to mature resting T cells. In contrast, antigen presentation by other types of antigen-presenting cells (APC) may lead to peripheral T cell tolerance. This paper reviews the immunobiology of DC, and considers the possibility that immune unresponsiveness of tumour-bearing hosts may be due to clonal anergy of T cells. An important issue is whether it is possible to use DC to vaccinate tumour-free individuals, to overcome the immunological unresponsiveness of tumour-bearing hosts, and ultimately to cause rejection of primary and metastatic cancers.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Surgery, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, U.K.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Austyn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*