FIGURE 4.

Mature dendritic cells enriched in immunoregulatory molecules (mregDCs) in chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In chemotherapy, immune costimulatory molecules (black line) and immune checkpoint ligands (red line) in mregDCs bind to their counterpart ligands on T cells. Due to the immunosuppressive microenvironment, the immune activation of mregDCs is much weaker and ultimately manifests as immunosuppression. While in immunotherapy, the suppressive immune checkpoints in mregDCs are blocked and therefore immune activation is enhanced. At the same time mregDCs are involved in the formation of tertiary lymph node structures, augmenting the efficacy of immunotherapy. During treatment, the number of mregDCs decreased in chemotherapy‐responsive patients and increased significantly in immunotherapy‐responsive patients. Created with BioRender.com.