Cruz-Merino, Luis de laIllescas-Vacas, AnaGrueso-López, AnaBarco-Sánchez, AntonioMíguez-Sánchez, Carlos2015-09-012015-09-012014-03-14Cruz-Merino L de la, Illescas-Vacas A, Grueso-López A, Barco-Sánchez A, Míguez-Sánchez C. Radiation for Awakening the Dormant Immune System, a Promising Challenge to be Explored. Front Immunol. 2014; 5:102http://hdl.handle.net/10668/1975Journal Article; Review;Recent advances that have been made in our understanding of cancer biology and immunology show that infiltrated immune cells and cytokines in the tumor microenvironment may play different functions that appear tightly related to clinical outcomes. Strategies aimed at interfering with the cross-talk between microenvironment tumor cells and their cellular partners have been considered for the development of new immunotherapies. These novel therapies target different cell components of the tumor microenvironment and importantly, they may be coupled and boosted with classical treatments, such as radiotherapy. In this work, we try to summarize recent data on the microenvironment impact of radiation therapy, from pre-clinical research to the clinic, while taking into account that this new knowledge will probably translate into indication and objective of radiation therapy changes in the next future.enCTLA-4abscopal effectimmunotherapyradiotherapy effectstumor microenvironmentEstructuras CelularesCitocinasInmunoterapiaMicroambiente TumoralMedical Subject Headings::Disciplines and Occupations::Natural Science Disciplines::Science::Research::Biomedical ResearchMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Cells::Cellular StructuresMedical Subject Headings::Chemicals and Drugs::Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins::Peptides::Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins::CytokinesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Therapeutics::Biological Therapy::Immunomodulation::ImmunotherapyMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::NeoplasmsMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Cell Physiological Phenomena::Cellular Microenvironment::Tumor Microenvironmentreview article24672524open access10.3389/fimmu.2014.001021664-3224PMC3953712