Although it has been shown in murine models that chemoradiotherapy may induce immunogenic tumor cell death, which could trigger T-cell immunity upon the released of high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), whether this also occurs in clinical settings remains unclear. Here, we discuss tumor-antigen specific T-cell responses in esophageal cancer patients receiving chemoradiotherapy. Our findings indicate that chemoradiation induces tumor antigen-specific T-cell responses and that the release of HMGB1 is related to clinical outcome.
Keywords: HMGB1; calreticulin; cancer-testis antigens; chemoradiation; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; immunogenic cell death.