All-trans retinoic acid overcomes solid tumor radioresistance by inducing inflammatory macrophages

Authors: Enyu Rao, Yuzhu Hou, Xiaona Huang, Liangliang Wang, Jiaai Wang, Wenxin Zheng, Hengjin Yang, Xinshuang Yu, Kaiting Yang, Jason Bugno, Xingchen Ding, Everett E. Vokes, Yang‐Xin Fu, Ralph R. Weichselbaum, Hua Liang - Science Immunology 2021 cited by 53

T cells are required for the effectiveness of the IR and RA combination. Combination treatment with RA enhanced the abscopal response when radiation and PD-L1 blockade were used together. The synergistic positive feedback loop of inflammatory macrophages and adaptive immunity is required for the antitumor efficacy of IR plus RA combination treatment. Our findings provide a translational and relatively nontoxic strategy for enhancing the local and systemic antitumor effects of IR.