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Time for radioimmunotherapy: an overview to bring improvements in clinical practice

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Abstract

Harnessing the patient’s own immune system against an established cancer has proven to be a successful strategy. Within the last years, several antibodies blocking critical “checkpoints” that control the activation of T cells, the immune cells able to kill cancer cells, have been approved for the use in patients with different tumours. Unfortunately, these cases remain a minority. Over the last years, radiotherapy has been reported as a means to turn a patient’s own tumour into an in situ vaccine and generate anti-tumour T cells in patients who lack sufficient anti-tumour immunity. Indeed, review data show that the strategy of blocking multiple selected immune inhibitory targets in combination with radiotherapy has the potential to unleash powerful anti-tumour responses and improve the outcome of metastatic solid tumours. Here, we review the principal tumours where research in this field has led to new knowledge and where radioimmunotherapy becomes a reality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Oncology Department, Central University Hospital of Defence Gómez Ulla, Madrid, Spain

    O. Leaman Alcibar

  2. Radiation Oncology Department, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid, Spain

    D. Candini, F. López-Campos & A. Hervás Morón

  3. Radiation Oncology Department, La Ribera University Hospital, Valencia, Spain

    M. Albert Antequera

  4. Radiation Oncology Department, General Hospital in Castellón de la Plana, Castellón, Spain

    V. Morillo Macías & C. Ferrer Albiach

  5. Radiation Oncology Department, The University and Polytechnic La Fe Hospital, Valencia, Spain

    A. J. Conde

  6. Radiation Oncology Department, Internacional Ruber Hospital, Madrid, Spain

    A. Rodríguez Pérez

  7. Radiation Oncology Department, Málaga Hospital, Málaga, Spain

    J. Contreras Martínez

  8. Radiation Oncology Department, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institut, Ricardo Palma Clinic, Lima, Peru

    S. Navarro Aguilar

  9. Radiation Oncology Department, University of Navarra Clinic and CIMA, Navarra, Spain

    M. E. Rodríguez-Ruiz

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  1. O. Leaman Alcibar
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Correspondence to O. Leaman Alcibar.

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Leaman Alcibar, O., Candini, D., López-Campos, F. et al. Time for radioimmunotherapy: an overview to bring improvements in clinical practice. Clin Transl Oncol 21, 992–1004 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-018-02027-1

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