Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Immune system versus tumor: shifting the balance in favor of DCs and effective immunity
Howard L. Kaufman, Mary L. Disis
Howard L. Kaufman, Mary L. Disis
Published March 1, 2004
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2004;113(5):664-667. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI21148.
View: Text | PDF
Commentary Article has an altmetric score of 3

Immune system versus tumor: shifting the balance in favor of DCs and effective immunity

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Despite the initial excitement over cancer vaccines, the clinical effectiveness of immunotherapy has been disappointing. The suppressive milieu present within established tumors inhibits effective immune responses, although new strategies are emerging to manipulate the local tumor microenvironment and shift the balance back to a proinflammatory environment, promote DC activation, and enhance tumor immunity .

Authors

Howard L. Kaufman, Mary L. Disis

×

Figure 2

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
DCs exist primarily in two distinct phenotypic forms. Immature DCs are a...
DCs exist primarily in two distinct phenotypic forms. Immature DCs are able to circulate through peripheral tissues and sample soluble antigen and possibly necrotic or apoptotic cells. These DCs express few costimulatory molecules and are unable to prime T cell responses. Once DCs begin to process and present antigen they “mature” into a more stellate shape capable of presenting antigen and initiating an adaptive immune response. The presence of TLRs allows the DC to recognize common molecular patterns found on a variety of pathogenic organisms, so-called pathogen-associated molecular patterns. TLR signaling is thought to represent a major mechanism of innate immunity and is another process that results in APC conditioning and release of proinflammatory cytokines. Maturation of DCs also results in increased expression of MHC, costimulatory molecules, and chemokine receptors that direct DCs to regional lymph nodes where they are more likely to encounter their cognate T cell and are able to prime T cell responses.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts

Referenced in 3 patents
38 readers on Mendeley
See more details