Dendritic cells (DC) are key sentinels of the host immune response with an important role in linking innate and adaptive immunity and maintaining tolerance. There is increasing recognition that DC are critical determinants of initiating and sustaining effective T-cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses. Recent progress in immuno-oncology has led to the evolving insight that the presence and function of DC within the tumor microenvironment (TME) may dictate efficacy of cancer immunotherapies as well as conventional cancer therapies, including immune checkpoint blockade, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. As such, improved understanding of dendritic cell immunobiology specifically focusing on their role in T-cell priming, migration into tissues and TME, and the coordinated in vivo responses of functionally specialized DC subsets will facilitate a better mechanistic understanding of how tumor-immune surveillance can be leveraged to improve patient outcomes and to develop novel DC-targeted therapeutic approaches.

树突状细胞 (DC) 是宿主免疫反应的关键哨兵，在连接先天性免疫和适应性免疫以及维持耐受性方面发挥着重要作用。人们越来越认识到 DC 是启动和维持有效 T 细胞介导的抗肿瘤免疫反应的关键决定因素。免疫肿瘤学的最新进展使人们逐渐认识到，肿瘤微环境 (TME) 中 DC 的存在和功能可能决定癌症免疫疗法以及传统癌症疗法（包括免疫检查点阻断、放疗和化疗）的疗效。因此，提高对树突状细胞免疫生物学的理解，特别关注它们在 T 细胞启动、迁移到组织和 TME 中的作用，以及功能特化的 DC 子集的体内协调反应，将有助于更好地理解肿瘤免疫监视如何发挥作用。可用于改善患者治疗效果并开发新型 DC 靶向治疗方法。