Anticancer therapies using cytotoxic drugs, which had been considered to be immunosuppressive, could induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) in cancer cells. Anticancer drugs, tumor-lytic viruses, and radiation therapies can establish long-term immune memory via emmision of damage-associated molecular pattern from cancer cells, activating the acquired immunity. This phenomenon could prolong the survival of patients with cancer. ICD was originally reported in solid tumors; however, recent studies have shown that it also occurs in hematological malignancy. Several studies have been trying to combine ICD inducers and other immunotherapies, such as CAR-T-cell therapy. Therefore, treatment strategies should be considered based on drugs' ability to evoke ICD.
Keywords: Damage-associated molecular patterns; Immunogenic cell death; Leukemia; Myeloma.