Introduction: Cancer stems from mutations in specific genes that induce uncontrolled cell proliferation. Dendritic cells (DCs) are important immunologic cells and play a crucial role in the induction of an antitumour response.

Patients and methods: We examined the immune response mediated by T lymphocytes, helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, and regulatory T cells, as well as the cytokines [interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- α and IL-10], produced by these cell populations, in cancer patients (N = 7) undergoing immunotheraphy with autologous DCs.

Results: We observed an initial increase in T helper cells (CD4+) expressing IL-2, IFN- γ, IL-12, TNF-α, and IL-10 after initiation of treatment, with statistically significant for the cytokines IL-2, TNF- α and IL-10. A similar significant effect was observed for IL-2-expressing cytotoxic T cells (CD8+). The percentage of total T cells (CD3+) remained elevated throughout immunotherapy. Regulatory T cells (CD25+/FOXP3+) only showed high percentage of their maximum value when analyzed the pretreatment levels, with statistically significant.

Conclusion: Immunotherapy with DCs stimulated the immune response, as evidenced by an increase in percent fluorescence of most cell populations investigated during the specified treatment period.