Why can dendritic cells be used for cancer therapy?

Dendritic cells help the immune system recognise and attack abnormal cells, such as cancer cells. To make the vaccine, scientists grow dendritic cells alongside cancer cells in the lab. The vaccine then stimulates your immune system to attack the cancer.

What are dendritic cells and what do they do?

A special type of immune cell that is found in tissues, such as the skin, and boosts immune responses by showing antigens on its surface to other cells of the immune system. A dendritic cell is a type of phagocyte and a type of antigen-presenting cell (APC).

What is a dendritic cell in regards to cancer immunotherapy?

Dendritic Cells in Cancer. DCs are the quintessential APCs of the immune system, responsible for bridging the gap between innate and adaptive immunity, including the activation of anti-tumor T cells (4, 7–10). DCs arise from bone marrow progenitors known as common myeloid progenitors (CMPs).

What is dendritic cell vaccine immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is the newest approach to combat cancer. It can be achieved using several strategies, among which is the dendritic cell (DC) vaccine therapy. Several clinical trials are ongoing using DC vaccine therapy either as a sole agent or in combination with other interventions to tackle different types of cancer.

How do dendritic cells work?

Dendritic cells (DCs) represent a heterogeneous family of immune cells that link innate and adaptive immunity. The main function of these innate cells is to capture, process, and present antigens to adaptive immune cells and mediate their polarization into effector cells (1).

Do dendritic cells activate the immune system?

Dendritic cells (DCs), named for their probing, ‘tree-like’ or dendritic shapes, are responsible for the initiation of adaptive immune responses and hence function as the ‘sentinels’ of the immune system.

How are dendritic cells activated?

DCs are activated directly by conserved pathogen molecules and indirectly by inflammatory mediators produced by other cell types that recognise such molecules. In addition, it is likely that DCs are activated by poorly characterised cellular stress molecules and by disturbances in the internal milieu.

How do dendritic cells Recognise cancer cells?

This indicates that dendritic cells may recognize colorectal cancer cells through binding of DC-SIGN to tumor-specific glycosylation on CEA. Similar to pathogens that target DC-SIGN to escape immunosurveillance, tumor cells may interact with DC-SIGN to suppress dendritic cell functions.

How do dendritic cells help the immune system?