Complementing the tumor-specific immunity in tumor radiotherapy

The role of immune system and inflammation in tumor development has recently rekindled the attention of researchers and Douglas Hanahan and Robert A. Weinberg have listed them to one of the ten cancer hallmarks (1). Though the protective function of immune system to fight against infection was widely recognized (2), its role in tumorigenesis has been a controversial topic because while adaptive and innate immunity convincingly demonstrate anti-cancer function, certain clinical observations and animal experiments showed that the immune system could also promote the spontaneous and chemically-induced cancer development (3). Recent researches demonstrated that immune system could be manipulated as an auxiliary tool for therapeutic strategies of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to destroy cancer (4-6).