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Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy Combined With Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors.
Eric D Brooks1, Jonathan E Schoenhals, Chad Tang
1From the *Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Departments of †Experimental Radiation Oncology and ‡Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Departments of §Dermatology and ∥Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Cancer Journal (Sudbury, Mass.)
|July 22, 2016
Summary
Combining immunotherapy with radiation therapy can improve cancer treatment outcomes. This approach enhances the effectiveness of both treatments, potentially transforming radiation into a powerful systemic therapy and overcoming treatment resistance.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Radiation Oncology
- Immunology
Background:
- Immunotherapy, specifically immune-checkpoint inhibitors, shows promise in cancer treatment but faces limitations like non-response and relapse.
- There is a need for strategies to enhance the efficacy of immune-checkpoint therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the synergistic effects of combining radiation therapy with immune-checkpoint inhibitors.
- To explore how stereotactic ablative radiation therapy can potentiate immune-checkpoint therapy.
- To discuss the potential of immunotherapy to enhance radiation therapy's systemic effects.
Main Methods:
- Review of preclinical and clinical studies on combined immunotherapy and radiation.
- Analysis of stereotactic ablative radiation therapy's role in potentiating immune-checkpoint therapy.
Main Results:
- Combination therapy amplifies systemic effects of immunotherapy and immunogenic effects of radiation.
- Stereotactic ablative radiation therapy can enhance immune-checkpoint therapy effectiveness.
- Immunotherapy may enable radiation to act as a systemic treatment.
Conclusions:
- Combining radiation therapy with immune-checkpoint inhibitors offers a promising strategy to improve cancer treatment.
- This combination has the potential to overcome resistance and enhance treatment efficacy.
- Radiation may be repurposed as a systemic therapy when combined with novel immunotherapeutics.
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