title: Recent advances of dendritic cells (DCs)-based immunotherapy for malignant gliomas.
abstract: Immunotherapy is a new light of hope for the treatment of malignant gliomas. The brain is no longer believed to be an immunologically privileged organ. The major advantage of immunotherapy is the tumor-specific cytotoxic effect on the tumor cells with minimal side effects. Autologous dendritic cells (DCs)-based immunotherapy is a promising and feasible method. DCs are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs). DCs prime T lymphocytes by epitopic major histocompatibility (MHC) class I and II for CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and CD4(+) T helper cells, respectively. From the tissue specimen examination after DCs-based immunotherapy, CD8(+) CTLs have replaced T regulatory cells (Tregs) as the major dominant tissue infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). CD8(+) CTLs play a key role in the tumor response, which may also be effective against cancer stem cells. DCs themselves also produce many cytokines including interferon-gamma and interleukin (IL-2) to kill the tumor cells. From the preliminary better outcomes in the literature for malignant gliomas, DC-based immunotherapy may improve tumor response by increasing the survival rate and time. It is recommended that DC-based immunotherapy is applied as soon as possible with conjunctive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Malignant gliomas have heterogeneity of tissue-associated antigens (TAAs). To find universal common antigens through different kinds of tumor culture may be the essential issue for tumor vaccine development in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Neuropsychiatric, Cell/Gene Therapy Research Laboratory, China Medical University & Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Der-Yang
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Shinn-Zong
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-Kuang
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Den-Mei
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Han-Chung
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wen-Yeun
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shih-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005910:Glioma / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2