Building immunity to cancer with radiation therapy

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic shift in the focus of cancer research toward understanding how the body's immune defenses can be harnessed to promote the effectiveness of cytotoxic anticancer therapies. The ability of ionizing radiation to elicit anti-cancer immune responses capable of controlling tumor growth has led to the emergence of promising combination-based radio-immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer. Herein we review the immunoadjuvant properties of localized radiation therapy and discuss how technological advances in radio-oncology and developments in the field of tumor-immunotherapy have started to revolutionize the therapeutic application of radiotherapy. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.