Radiotherapy-immunotherapy combinations - perspectives and challenges.

ABSTRACT: Ionizing radiation has historically been used to treat cancer by killing tumour cells, in particular by inducing DNA damage. This view of radiotherapy (RT) as a simple cytotoxic agent has dramatically changed in recent years, and it is now widely accepted that RT can deeply reshape the tumour environment by modulating the immune response. Such evidence gives a strong rationale for the use of immunomodulators to boost the therapeutic value of RT, introducing the era of 'immunoradiotherapy'. The increasing amount of preclinical and clinical data concerning the combination of RT with immunomodulators, in particular with immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and anti-CTLA4, reflects the interest of the scientific and medical community concerning immunoradiotherapy. The expectati

SUBMITTER: Mondini M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7332212 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature