jolanda de Vries was PhD student at the Department of Dermatology of University Medical Centre Utrecht from 1991-1997. In 1997 she joined the Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre/Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences. By the end of that year we were able to provide the first DC-based vaccine for a melanoma patient, the first patient receiving DCs in the Netherlands. This was achieved by a close collaboration with the Departments of Medical Oncology and Hematology.  Over the last 8 years, we succeeded in establishing a clinical vaccination program in which tumor-associated antigens loaded on DCs to treat melanoma patients. My primary scientific interest continues along the line of DC-immunotherapy and in particular the migration and imaging of DC. Throughout the past period we have intensively studied migration of DCs both in vitro and in vivo and demonstrated that mature DCs are superior to immature DCs. Recently, we showed the exact localisation of ex vivo labeled cells with MRI in humans.

Maturation of in-vitro generated monocyte-derived DC for vaccination of cancer patients is essential for antitumor immunity. Tumor specificity of skin infiltrating lymphocytes obtained from DC-induced DTH sites correlates with clinical outcome in melanoma patients vaccinated with DC either loaded with tumor-associated peptides or mRNA encoding tumor-associated antigens. Plasmacytoid DC can take up antigen via Fcgamma RII and are able to cross present antigen to CD8 T cells. Platinum chemotherapy has a positive effect on DC induced immune responses in vitro by inhibiting STAT6 and thereby inhibiting immune inhibitory molecule expression on DC. Vaccination with naturally occurring peptide-loaded blood DC are able to induce antitumor responses in cancer patients and thereby have a beneficial effect on clinical outcome