Combining RAIT and Immune-Based Therapies to Overcome Resistance in Cancer?

Radiation therapy has long been considered as immunosuppressive; therefore its impact on the immune system and other aspects which could be involved in raising efficient antitumor immune responses has been neglected. However, the recent demonstration of the immunogenic properties of ionizing radiation is rapidly modifying the radiation oncology field, and it also opens new and promising perspectives for the development and improvement of radioimmunotherapy. In this chapter, we first review the immunogenic properties of irradiation before discussing available evidence of the benefits of radiation therapy and immunotherapy combinations in the context of lymphoma.