Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Mar 4;26(12 Suppl 2):S66-S75.
doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noad184.

The role of radiotherapy in immunotherapy strategies in the central nervous system

Matthew Gallitto  1 , Peter C Pan  2 , Michael D Chan  3 , Michael T Milano  4 , Tony J C Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

The role of radiotherapy in immunotherapy strategies in the central nervous system

Matthew Gallitto et al. Neuro Oncol. .

Abstract

The clinical efficacy and relative tolerability of adverse effects of immune checkpoint immunotherapy have led to its increasingly routine use in the management of multiple advanced solid malignancies. Radiation therapy (RT) is well-known to have both local and distant immunomodulatory effects, which has led to extensive investigation into the synergism of these 2 therapies. While the central nervous system (CNS) has historically been thought to be a sanctuary site, well-protected by the blood-brain barrier from the effects of immunotherapy, over the last several years studies have shown the benefits of these drugs, particularly in metastatic disease involving the CNS. This review explores current progress and the future of combination therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors and RT.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

T.J.C.W. reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from AbbVie, personal fees from Cancer Panels, personal fees from Doximity, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Elekta, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Merck, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Novocure, personal fees and nonfinancial support from RTOG Foundation, personal fees from Rutgers, personal fees from the University of Iowa, personal fees from Wolters Kluwer, grants and nonfinancial support from Genentech, grants and nonfinancial support from Varian, personal fees from Iylon Precision Oncology, outside the submitted work. M.T.M. reports royalties from Wolters Kluwer outside the submitted work. M.D.C. reports consulting for Monteris, Inc. and is on the Data Safety Monitoring Board for Biomimetix. All other authors have no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

    1. Carvalho HA, Villar RC.. Radiotherapy and immune response: the systemic effects of a local treatment. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2018;73(suppl 1):e557s. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Orth M, Lauber K, Niyazi M, et al. Current concepts in clinical radiation oncology. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2014;53(1):1–29. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ruckert M, Flohr AS, Hecht M, Gaipl US.. Radiotherapy and the immune system: more than just immune suppression. Stem Cells. 2021;39(9):1155–1165. - PubMed
    1. Sia J, Szmyd R, Hau E, Gee HE.. Molecular mechanisms of radiation-induced cancer cell death: a primer. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020;8:41. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Colton M, Cheadle EJ, Honeychurch J, Illidge TM.. Reprogramming the tumour microenvironment by radiotherapy: implications for radiotherapy and immunotherapy combinations. Radiat Oncol. 2020;15(1):254. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources