Dendritic cell vaccination and immune monitoring

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the professional antigen-p resenting cells of the immune system. Following infection or inflammation, they undergo a complex process of maturation and migrate to lymph nodes where they present antigens to T cells. Their decisive role in inducing immunity formed the rationale for DC immunotherapy: DCs loaded with tumour antigens are injected into cancer patients to stimulate T cells to eradicate tumours. Effective immune responses and favourable clinical outcomes have indeed been observed, but only in a minority of patients. Therefore, it is obvious that current DC-based protocols need to be improved. For this reason, we study in small proof-of-principle trials the fate, interactions and effectiveness of the injected DC. The success of DC-based immunotherapy to induce cellular immunity against tumours is highly dependent on accurate delivery and trafficking of the DC to T cell-rich areas of secondary lymphoid tissues.