Nowadays, it is known and recognized that the immune system has a central place in the mechanisms of oncogenesis and the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapies. The demonstration of the immuno-stimulatory ability of radiation therapy opens the field to new applications for this therapy already widely used in oncology area. Indeed, radiotherapy is capable of initiating and / or increasing the immune-mediated anti-tumor response. The combination of this "old" therapy with the "new" therapies that are immunotherapies then makes perfect sense. Although the potentiating effect of this combination is based on an interesting and well-documented biological rationale in preclinical data, there are still few clinical data available. The multiplication of trials, and the arrival of phase III trials should give us more perspective on the effectiveness and safety of this association. However, the lack of consensus concerning the optimization of these "immuno-radiotherapies" (characteristics of the tumor, irradiation regimen and treatment plan) could prove deleterious for the results of ongoing studies.
Keywords: Abscopal effect; Effet abscopal; Immune system; Immunotherapies; Immunothérapies; Radiation therapy; Radiations ionisantes; Système immunitaire.
© 2018 Société Française du Cancer. Publié par Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.