Dendritic cells as vectors for immunotherapy of tumor and its application for gastric cancer therapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are recognized as the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) with the ability to stimulate naive resting T cells and initiate primary immune responses. DCs are poised to capture antigen (Ag), migrate to draining lymphoid organs, and, after a process of maturation, select Ag-specific lymphocytes to which they present the processed Ag, thereby inducing immune responses. Numerous studies indicated that immunotherapies utilizing DC-presenting tumor-associated antigens can safely be administered to cancer patients and induce significant immunologic and clinical responses. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that DCs are related to clinical stage, invasion, metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer. DC-based tumor vaccines become a new effective immunoadjuvant therapy for gastric cancer.