Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy: present status and future perspectives

Abstract

Radiotherapy is along with surgery and chemotherapy one of the prime treatment modalities in cancer. It is applied in the primary, neoadjuvant as well as the adjuvant setting. Radiation techniques have rapidly evolved during the past decade enabling the delivery of high radiation doses, reducing side-effects in tumour-adjacent normal tissues. While increasing local tumour control, current and future efforts ought to deal with microscopic disease at a distance of the primary tumour, ultimately responsible for disease-progression. This review explores the possibility of bimodal treatment combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy.

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Immunothérapie; Radiothérapie stéréotaxique ablative; Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy.