EUROPEAN RADIATION RESEARCH 2012

Immunological aspects of the modulation of the radiosensitivity by hyperthermia

18 Oct 2012, 17:45

30m

Hall "E" (Vietri sul Mare)

oral (invited speaker) Modulation of Radiosensitivity Modulation of Radiosensitivity

Speaker

Prof. Udo Gaipl (Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Erlangen)

Description

Hyperthermia (HT) has been shown in various cell culture, preclinical animal and clinical models to be a very potent radio- and chemosensitizer. Recent research suggests that local heating (41-43°C for 1 hour) of the tumour may lead to abscopal, systemic and immune stimulatory effects, since cancer cells can be rendered visible to the immune system by standard therapies either alone or in combination with (further) immune stimulation. The tumour microenvironment that is present after therapy strongly determines which immune cells get recruited and triggers the activation or suppression of dendritic cells (DCs). The latter take up and cross-present tumor peptide-antigens, a prerequisite for the initiation of MHC class I dependent cytotoxic T cell (CTL) anti-tumor responses. Danger signals like high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) are discussed to be potent stimulators of DCs when they get released by therapy-stressed tumour cells. The immunogenic potential of HT when applied in combination with RT will be presented and focus will be set on the modulation of the innate and adaptive immune system by either RT alone or in combination with HT treatment. Acknowledgement: The German Research Foundation (GA 1507/1-1 and DFG -Graduiertenkolleg 1660: Key signals of the adaptive immune response), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; m4 Cluster, 01EX1021R and GREWIS, 02NUK017G), and the European Commissions (DoReMi, European Network of Excellence, contract number 249689) supported this work.