As indicated in Figure 1 and based on previousreports [3], we hypothesized that tumor-derived VEGF might exert its inhibitoryeffect at the stage of immature HLA-DR−MDC precursors within theImC fraction blocking their development into pMDC, while simultaneously skewingtheir differentiation towards a newly identified population of myeloid CD14+HLA-DRneg/low suppressor cells with immunosuppressive traits [21]. This evidence concerns the gene CD14 and neoplasm.