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

• Published in: Clinical & translational oncology 2019-08, Vol.21 (8), p.992-1004
• Main Authors: Leaman Alcibar, O., Candini, D., López-Campos, F., Albert Antequera, M., Morillo Macías, V., Conde, A. J., Rodríguez Pérez, A., Hervás Morón, A., Contreras Martínez, J., Ferrer Albiach, C., Navarro Aguilar, S., Rodríguez-Ruiz, M. E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasms - therapy; Oncology; Prognosis; Radioimmunotherapy - methods; Review Article
• ISSN: 1699-048X; 1699-3055
• DOI: 10.1007/s12094-018-02027-1

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.