Dendritic cell subsets biology and application in cancer immunotherapy

Background: Cancer as the uncontrolled proliferation and spread of transformed cells is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Dendritic cells (DCs) can be used in cancer immunotherapy. Tumor antigen-loaded DCs are able to enhance the cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) antitumor activity.Materials and Methods: Related articles were searched by search engines in NCBI database. Then the original and review articles were retrieved from the Science Direct, Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer and ProQuest databases. Results: The DC subsets with various functions have been identified in different tissues of both the animal model (mouse) and human. Human myeloid DC subsets could be derived from blood monocytes using the cytokine enriched media. Mouse conventional CD8+ DCs can be isolated from the spleen or derived from the bone marrow stem cells using the cytokine- enriched media. Conclusion: Some of the human and mouse DC subsets, including human myeloid DCs and mouse conventional CD8+ DCs play a pivotal role in an induction of TH1 cells and CTLs. Therefore, these subsets can be utilized as cellular immunity stimulants in human and mouse model for cancer immunotherapy