title: Current issues in dendritic cell cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: Dendritic cells (DCs) initiate and direct the immune response. Their inability to detect danger signals from transformed cells and to generate an effective immunological response may allow cells with a malignant phenotype to evolve into cancers. This defect can be corrected for many cancer types and the immune response boosted to eliminate malignant cells by means of DC-based vaccines/therapies. Rapid advances in our understanding of basic DC physiology and improved methods for DC isolation have made clinical application of DC therapy practical, and encouraging phase I/II results are emerging.
authors.affiliation: Mater Medical Research Institute, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: José Alejandro
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Derek N J
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000378:metabolism; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000276:immunology; D002465:Cell Movement; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm