Dendritic cell-based vaccination against cancer.

Vaccination against infectious agents represents a success of immunology, although many infectious diseases still evade the immune system, including chronic infections, such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV. Further progress is expected through rational design based on increased understanding of how the immune system works, and how the induction of protective immunity is regulated. The same principle applies to cancer vaccines, particularly because cancer is a chronic disease. Owing to their capacity to regulate cellular and humoral immunity, dendritic cells are increasingly used as vaccines; the immunogenicity of antigens delivered on dendritic cells has been shown in cancer patients. A better understanding of how dendritic cells regulate immune responses would allow clinicians to exploit them better to induce effective immunity against cancer.