The Dendritic Cell

The Dendritic Cell is a newly emerging and potent form of immune therapy used to treat cancer conditions. In case of cancer, Dendritic Cell therapy is an immune therapy which harnesses the body's own immune system to fight cancer. The Dendritic Cell itself is an immune cell whose role is the recognition, processing and presentation of foreign antigens to the T-cells in the effecter arm of the immune system. Although Dendritic Cells are potent cells, they are not usually present in adequate quantity to allow for a potent immune response. Dendritic Cell Therapy thus involves the harvesting of blood cells (ie monocytes or macrophages) from a patient and processing them in the laboratory to produce Dendritic Cells which are then given back to a patient in order to allow massive Dendritic participation in optimally activating the immune system.