Migration of dendritic cells to the lymph nodes and its enhancement to drive anti-tumor responses.
Better prognoses associated with increased T cell infiltration of tumors, as seen with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, portray the importance and potential of the immune system in controlling tumors. This has rejuvenated the field of cancer immunotherapy leading to an increasing number of immunotherapies developed for cancer patients. Dendritic Cells (DCs) vaccines represent an appealing option for cancer immunotherapy since DCs have the ability to circumvent tolerance to tumors by its adjuvant properties and to induce memory T cells that can become persistent after initial tumor clearance to engage potential metastatic tumors. In the past, DC-based cancer vaccines have elicited only poor clinical response in cancer patients, which can be attributed to complex and a multitude of issues associated with generation, implementing, delivery of DC vaccine and their potential interaction with effector cells. The current review mainly focuses on migration/trafficking of DCs, as one of the key issues that affect the success of DC-based cancer vaccines, and discusses strategies to enhance it for cancer immunotherapy. Additionally, impact of maturation, route of DC delivery and negative effects of tumor microenvironment (TME) on DC homing to LN are reviewed. Moreover, strategies to increase the expression of genes involved in Lymph node homing, preconditioning of the vaccination site, enhancing lymph node ability to attract and receive DCs, while limiting negative impact of TME on DC migration are discussed.
Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: narges.seyfizadeh@gmail.com.
Narges
N
Seyfizadeh
1.33, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Ravikumar
R
Muthuswamy
Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Duane A
DA
Mitchell
Laboratory of Translational Immunology, U-DAIR, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Stefan
S
Nierkens
Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Nayer
N
Seyfizadeh
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
Cancer vaccine; Dendritic cell; Immunotherapy; Lymph node homing; Migration to the lymph node