GM3-induced inhibition of DC maturation and migration may have led to less mature DCs infiltrating the tumoral tissue, and consequently, may have contributed to the observed compartmentalization of DCs according to their maturation status: consistently, we observed cells expressing CD1a, which is generally believed to be a marker of immature DCs and to be down-regulated upon maturation, more frequently in NSCLC tissue as compared to the corresponding peritumoral lung tissue. This evidence concerns the gene CD1A and non-small cell lung carcinoma.