Early local immune activation following intra-operative radiotherapy in human breast tissue
irradiation of primary breast tissue cells recapitulated key cytokine patterns and led to robust senescence induction, suggesting irradiated, senescent normal tissue cells as drivers of early immune activation in postsurgical radiotherapy. These data provide direct clinical evidence that radiotherapy shapes local and systemic immune responses, offering mechanistic insights with clear relevance for tumor immunology and the development of rational radiotherapy‒immunotherapy combination strategies.
Authors
- Udo S. Gaipl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6375-5476)
- Brigitte Rack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7539-4839)
- Benedek Dankó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0668-6608)
- Kirsten Lauber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8141-0452)
- B Kost
- Rachel Wuerstlein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7268-0840)
- Nikko Brix
- Heike Scheithauer
- Roman Hennel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0362-6952)
- M Pazos
- Horst Zitzelsberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5411-9213)
- Martin Selmansberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6700-946X)
- Anna Tiefenthaller
- V von Bodungen
- C. Belka
- Julia Hess
- B. Frey
- K Unger
- Nadia Harbeck
Institutions
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- Helmholtz Zentrum München (DE)
- LMU Klinikum (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (DE)
- Nuremberg Hospital (DE)
- German Center for Infection Research (DE)
- Breast Center (CH)
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
- University Hospital Ulm (DE)
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- OncoImmunology
- Published
- 2026-04-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402x.2026.2653318
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft