Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) orchestrate immune responses to cancer and comprise two major subsets: type-1 cDCs (cDC1s) and type-2 cDCs (cDC2s). Compared with cDC1s, which are dedicated to the activation of CD8+ T cells, cDC2s are ontogenically and functionally heterogeneous, with their main function being the presentation of exogenous antigens to CD4+ T cells for the initiation of T helper cell differentiation. cDC1s play an important role in tumor-specific immune responses through cross-presentation of tumor-derived antigens for the priming of CD8+ T cells, whereas little is known of the role of cDC2s in tumor immunity. Recent studies have indicated that human cDC2s can be divided into at least two subsets and have implicated these cells in both anti- and pro-tumoral immune responses. Furthermore, the efficacy of cDC2-based vaccines as well as cDC2-targeted therapeutics has been demonstrated in both mouse models and human patients. Here we summarize current knowledge about the role of cDC2s in tumor immunity and address whether these cells are beneficial in the context of antitumor immune responses.
Keywords: DC vaccine; antigen presentation; tumor immunity; type-2 conventional dendritic cell.