Use of antigen-primed dendritic cells for inducing antitumor immune responses in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Cancer is associated with a reduction in immature and mature circulating dendritic cells (DCs), and with an impaired migratory capacity, compared with healthy donors. Therefore, modern approaches to the generation of DCs loaded with tumor antigens and their use for inducing antitumor immune responses are being investigated. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the phenotypic and functional characteristics of peripheral blood DC subsets in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the development of an antitumor cytotoxic response by mononuclear cells (MNCs) from patients using generated antigen-primed DCs.