Activating Lymph Node Immunity to Enhance Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is a central treatment for many people with non-small cell lung cancer, especially those who cannot have surgery. Radiation can directly kill cancer cells, but it can also activate the immune system to fight the disease. Adding immunotherapy to radiation therapy can help strengthen this immune response, but in many patients, it is not strong or coordinated enough to have a lasting effect. Our research focuses on a critical step in generating a strong immune response, effective communication between immune cells inside the tumor and nearby lymph nodes, where T cells are trained to recognize cancer. We are building on our earlier work showing that combining new types of immunotherapy with radiation therapy to activate specific immune pathways inside the tumor can encourage the right immune cells to reach the lymph node and strengthen T cell activation. Our current project investigates how these pathways are triggered after radiation therapy and how they guide immune cells to the lymph node so they can help generate cancer-fighting T cells. Ultimately, we hope to translate findings from this work into new treatment strategies that help people with non-small cell lung cancer achieve better outcomes after radiation therapy.
