Enhancement of antitumor immunity by low-dose total body irradiation is associated with selectively decreasing the proportion and number of T regulatory cells

Low-dose total body irradiation(LTBI) is used in the treatment of some cancers mainly for immune enhancement rather than cell killing. However, the mechanism underlying LTBI remains unknown. In this study, by analyzing the immune patterns of lymphocytes, we found that the percentage and absolute number of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells are markedly decreased in naive mice following treatment with LTBI. On the contrary, the CD4(+)CD44(+)/CD8(+)CD44(+) effector-memory T cells are greatly increased. Importantly, naive mice treated with dendritic cell-gp100 tumor vaccines under LTBI induced an enhancement of antigen-specific proliferation and cytotoxicity as well as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion against F10 melanoma tumor challenge, compared to treatment with either the tumor vaccine or LTBI alone. Consequently, the treatment resulted in a reduced tumor burden and prolonged mouse survival. Our data demonstrate that LTBI's enhancement of antitumor immunity was mainly associated with selectively decreasing the proportion and number of T regulatory cells, implying the potential application of the combination of LTBI and a tumor vaccine in antitumor therapy. Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2010) 7, 157-162; doi: 10.1038/cmi.2009.117; published online 8 February 2010