title: Radiation as immunomodulator: implications for dendritic cell-based immunotherapy.
abstract: The last decade has witnessed significant progress in the field of cancer immunotherapy. This has, in part, been driven by a growing recognition that elements of the innate immune response can be harnessed to induce robust immunity against tumor-associated targets. Nonetheless, as clinically effective immunotherapy for the majority of cancers remains a distant goal, attention has shifted toward multimodality approaches to cancer therapy, sometimes combining novel immunotherapeutics and conventional therapeutics. The traditional view of radiation therapy as immunosuppressive has been challenged, prompting a re-evaluation of its potential as an adjunct to, or even a component of immunotherapy. Radiation therapy may enhance expression of tumor-associated antigens, induce targeting of tumor stroma, diminish regulatory T-cell activity and activate effectors of innate immunity such as dendritic cells through Toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent mechanisms. Here, we review recent progress in the field of dendritic cell-based immunotherapy, evidence for radiation-induced antitumor immunity and TLR signaling and the results of efforts to rationally integrate radiation into dendritic cell-based immunotherapy strategies.
authors.affiliation: a  Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Roses
authors.forename: Jashodeep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Czerniecki
mesh_terms: D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000819:agonists; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D051193:Toll-Like Receptors