The Abscopal Effect in the Era of Cancer Immunotherapy: a Spontaneous Synergism Boosting Anti-tumor Immunity?
Zuzana HlavataCinzia SolinasPushpamali De SilvaMichele PorcuLuca SabaKaren Willard-GalloMario ScartozziPublished in: Targeted oncology (2019)
Radiotherapy is one of the main treatment strategies used in cancer. Aside from the local control of the disease, which is mediated by a direct cytotoxic effect on tumor cells, radiotherapy has also been shown to exert immune-mediated local and systemic effects. Radiotherapy can elicit anti-tumor responses in distant sites from the radiation field; this phenomenon is known as the abscopal effect and has been described in patients previously treated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Considering that the efficacy of immunotherapy has been demonstrated only in a subset of patients-who often benefit with lasting responses-efforts are ongoing to potentiate its activity with the development of new combination strategies. Radiotherapy might represent a potential candidate for a synergistic combination with immunotherapy, by improving the immunogenicity of tumors and by enhancing local and systemic immune effects. This review aims to summarize the current pre-clinical and clinical data on the immune effects of radiotherapy and their potential implications for cancer immunotherapy.
Keyphrases
- early stage
- locally advanced
- radiation induced
- radiation therapy
- newly diagnosed
- end stage renal disease
- lymph node
- rectal cancer
- papillary thyroid
- squamous cell carcinoma
- ejection fraction
- risk assessment
- climate change
- drug delivery
- electronic health record
- big data
- patient reported
- lymph node metastasis
- anti inflammatory