Radiotherapy supports protective tumor-specific immunity

Oncoimmunology. 2012 Dec 1;1(9):1610-1611. doi: 10.4161/onci.21478.

Abstract

Radiotherapy is an important therapeutic option for the treatment of cancer. Growing evidence indicates that, besides inducing an irreversible DNA damage, radiotherapy promotes tumor-specific immune response, which significantly contribute to therapeutic efficacy. We postulate that radiotherapy activates tumor-associated dendritic cells, thus changing the tolerogenic tumor environment into an immunogenic one.