TLR activation and ionizing radiation induce strong immune responses against multiple tumor entities

Sebastian Schölch; Conrad Rauber; Jürgen Weitz; Moritz Koch; Peter E Huber

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2015.1042201

TLR activation and ionizing radiation induce strong immune responses against multiple tumor entities

Oncoimmunology. 2015 May 7;4(11):e1042201. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2015.1042201. eCollection 2015 Nov.

Authors

Sebastian Schölch¹, Conrad Rauber², Jürgen Weitz³, Moritz Koch³, Peter E Huber⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastrointestinal, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery; Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus; Technische Universität Dresden ; Dresden, Germany ; CCU Molecular and Radiation Oncology; German Cancer Research Center ; Heidelberg, Germany.
² Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; University Hospital Heidelberg ; Heidelberg, Germany.
³ Department of Gastrointestinal, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery; Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus; Technische Universität Dresden ; Dresden, Germany.
⁴ CCU Molecular and Radiation Oncology; German Cancer Research Center ; Heidelberg, Germany ; Department of Radiation Oncology; University Hospital Center ; Heidelberg, Germany.

Abstract

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 ligands act together with radiotherapy and induce profound systemic antitumor immune reactions coordinated by dendritic cells and executed by natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T cells. Combining TLR ligands and radiation improves both local and distant tumor control and has been shown to be effective against multiple tumor entities.

Keywords: GI tumors; TLR7/8 ligand; Toll-like receptor; colorectal cancer; immunotherapy; pancreatic cancer; radiotherapy.