Plasmacytoid dendritic cells and their therapeutic activity in cancer

In the last decade several studies provided evidence that plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) infiltrate human neoplasms with poor prognosis. However, the role of tumor-associated pDCs remains controversial. Various studies indicate that pDCs play an immuno-suppressive role and facilitate tumor progression in both animal models and humans. In contrast, others found that the presence of activated tumor-associated pDCs results in tumor regression in mice. Given these findings, understanding pDC function in tumor biology is an important necessity and may pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies to fight malignancies.