Increase radio- and immunotherapy efficacy by targeting hypoxia

In a paper recently accepted by Clinical Cancer Research, Daan Boreel, Jan Bussink, Sandra Heskamp, theme Rare cancers, together with Paul Span, theme Women's cancers, and Gosse Adema, theme Cancer development and immune defence, reviews the therapeutic potential of decreasing the lack of oxygen (hypoxia) often found in solid tumors.

Hypoxia directly counters the efficacy of radiotherapy, and influences immune therapy by suppressing an effective immune reaction. By inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) tumor cells reduce their oxygen consumption, making them less hypoxic. This can be quantified using particular non-invasive imaging techniques, allowing for the selection of effective inhibitors in specific patients. In a more normoxic environment both radiotherapy and immunotherapy, and possibly their combination, will be more effective, allowing for potential systemic effects by reactivation of the anti-tumor immune response after radiotherapy. 

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