Role of Lymph Nodes In Immunotherapy of Malignant Tumors

摘要

The tumor-draining lymph node (TDLN) is the site of critical immune interactions and has implications in the clinical outcome of patients with malignant tumors. This chapter reviews the anatomy of lymph nodes and the interactions that occur between tumor antigens and immune cells at the TDLN. Historical in vivo experiments demonstrating the role that lymph nodes have in the immune response to malignancies is presented. These findings form the basis for ongoing research to develop approaches that potentiate the antitumor immune response. We conclude by describing some of these approaches. This includes the generation of effector cells from TDLN for adoptive immunotherapy and a dendritic cell-tumor fusion hybrid vaccine that demonstrates efficacy when delivered directly into lymph nodes.