Increasing the capacity of the immune system to mediate tumour regression has been a major goal in tumour immunology. Progress towards this goal has been recently aided by the identification of immunogenic cancer antigens and by a better understanding of the mechanisms of T-cell immune response and tumour escape. A rare antigen-presenting cell--the dendritic cell (DC)--appears to be the key to these mechanisms. The possibility of generating these cells in vitro from blood precursors has initiated a new era in cancer immunotherapy. Using DC as a cancer vaccine adjuvant has led to reports of measurable immune responses, and, in a few cases, to complete disease responses in patients with B-cell lymphoma and melanoma.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.