Radiation, Immune Checkpoint Blockade and the Abscopal Effect: A Critical Review on Timing, Dose and Fractionation.

ABSTRACT: The combination of radiation and immunotherapy is currently an exciting avenue of pre-clinical and clinical investigation. The synergy between these two treatment modalities has the potential to expand the role of radiation from a purely local therapy, to a role in advanced and metastatic disease. Tumor regression outside of the irradiated field, known as the abscopal effect, is a recognized phenomenon mediated by lymphocytes and enhanced by checkpoint blockade. In this review, we summarize the known mechanistic data behind the immunostimulatory effects of radiation and how this is enhanced by immunotherapy. We also provide pre-clinical data supporting specific radiation timing and optimal dose/fractionation for induction of a robust anti-tumor immune response with or without checkpoint bl

SUBMITTER: Buchwald ZS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6306034 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature