As TGF-β signalling in tumour-specific CTLs dampens their function and frequency in tumour [21] and it has been reported that TGF-β-mediated inhibition of CTL function during tumour immunity may occur via several mechanisms [21–27], we investigated whether TGF-β1 could suppress the function of DC-based vaccine in killing tumour cells. Here, TGFB1 is linked to neoplasm.