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
. 2025 Apr;39(2):399-411.
doi: 10.1016/j.hoc.2024.11.009. Epub 2025 Jan 17.

The Proimmunomodulatory and Anti-immunomodulatory Effects of Radiotherapy in Oncologic Care

Bryan Johnson  1 , Qianyu Guo  2 , Keyur Chaludiya  3 , Sungjune Kim  4
Affiliations
Review

The Proimmunomodulatory and Anti-immunomodulatory Effects of Radiotherapy in Oncologic Care

Bryan Johnson et al. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

The abscopal effect in radiotherapy (RT) refers to the phenomenon where localized radiation treatment causes regression of distant, nonirradiated tumors. Although rare, recent research shows that combining radiation with immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, can enhance this effect. The interaction between radiation-induced cell death, immune responses, and the tumor microenvironment manifests in competing biologic mechanisms resulting in complex immunologic outcomes. In order to maximize the therapeutic advantages of the immunogenic effect of RT in the future, further studies are needed to fully understand its biologic underpinnings.

Keywords: Abscopal effect; Immunotherapy; Radiotherapy; Tumor microenvironment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure No relevant disclosures.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Mole RH. Whole body irradiation; radiobiology or medicine? Br J Radiol 1953; 26(305):234–41. - PubMed
    1. Abuodeh Y, Venkat P, Kim S. Systematic review of case reports on the abscopal effect. Curr Probl Cancer 2016;40(1):25–37. - PubMed
    1. Demaria S, Kawashima N, Yang AM, et al. Immune-mediated inhibition of metastases after treatment with local radiation and CTLA-4 blockade in a mouse model of breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2005;11(2 Pt 1):728–34. - PubMed
    1. Deng L, Liang H, Burnette B, et al. Irradiation and anti-PD-L1 treatment synergistically promote antitumor immunity in mice. J Clin Invest 2014;124(2):687–95. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wei J, Montalvo-Ortiz W, Yu L, et al. Sequence of alphaPD-1 relative to local tumor irradiation determines the induction of abscopal antitumor immune responses. Sci Immunol 2021;6(58):eabg0117. - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances