Local Radiation Therapy of B16 Melanoma Tumors Increases the Generation of Tumor Antigen-Specific Effector Cells That Traffic to the Tumor

Immunotherapy of cancer is attractive because of its potential for specificity and limited side effects. The efficacy of this approach may be improved by providing adjuvant signals and an inflammatory environment for immune cell activation. We evaluated antitumor immune responses in mice after treatment of OVA-expressing B16-F0 tumors with single (15 Gy) or fractionated (5 x 3 Gy) doses of localized ionizing radiation. Irradiated mice had cells with greater capability to present tumor Ags and specific T cells that secreted IFN-gamma upon peptide stimulation within tumor-draining lymph nodes than nonirradiated mice. Immune activation in tumor-draining lymph nodes correlated with an increase in the number of…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: CA28332