How does radiation benefit the body’s response to cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Radiation of a primary tumor can activate immune cells around distant metastases, a study by Valsamo Anagnostou, a cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues has shown. Anagnostou says the mechanism is clear. 

Anangostou: Radiation induces cell death. The cells release their contents and then this is actually what activates the immune system because the immune system then recognizes all these contents of the cancer cells. So this system the immune response this is something we call immunogenic cell death that is what activates this systemic inflammatory response that can be targeted to any cancer cell anywhere. The promise of this approach is that it could be used as a strategy across the board at the time of resistance.     :32

Anangostou says the strategy of using radiation to improve immune recognition and response is used when the cancer shows signs of resistance to therapies in use. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.