Radiotherapy and immunotherapy: a beneficial liaison?

The interaction between radiotherapy and the host immune system has uncovered new mechanisms that can be exploited to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. In this article, the authors highlight data providing new explanations for the success or failure of radiotherapy, and postulate, using radiation-induced tumour equilibrium (RITE) as an example, how the combination of immune-modulation and radiation could tip the balance of the host immune response to promote cure.