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Cited by 152Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersImmunotherapy and Immune ResponsesNonmelanoma Skin Cancer Studies

Cryoablation and immunotherapy: an overview of evidence on its synergy

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Aarts, B. M., Klompenhouwer, E. G., Rice, S. L., Imani, F., Baetens, T., Bex, A., Horenblas, S., Kok, M. +3 more·2019·Insights into Imaging
DOI 10.1186/s13244-019-0727-5PMC PMC6527672
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Abstract

Cancer cells can escape the immune system by different mechanisms. The evasion of cancer cells from immune surveillance is prevented by immune checkpoint inhibitors, allowing the patient's own immune system to attack their cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown improvement in overall survival for melanoma, lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma in clinical trials. Unfortunately, not all patients respond to this therapy.In cancer management, percutaneous ablation techniques are well established for both cure and local control of many tumour types. Cryoablation of the tumour tissue results in cell destruction by freezing. Contrary to heat-based ablative modalities, cryoablation induces tumour cell death by osmosis and necrosis. It is hypothesised that with necrosis, the intracellular contents of the cancer cells stay intact allowing the immune system to induce an immune-specific reaction. This immune-specific reaction can, in theory, also affect cancer cells outside the ablated tissue, known as the abscopal effect. Unfortunately, this effect is rarely observed, but when cryoablation is combined with immunotherapy, the effect of both therapies may be enhanced. Although several preclinical studies demonstrated a synergistic effect between cryoablation and immunotherapy, prospective clinical trials are needed to prove this clinical benefit for patients. In this review, we will outline the current evidence for the combination of cryoablation with immunotherapy to treat cancer.

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  • Clinical outcomes of tumor cryoablation-both obtaining local control and achieving an abscopal effect-are highly unpredictable with variable magnitudes of response and frequent failure of local recurrence.

    “Despite these theoretical benefits, clinical outcomes of tumor cryoablation—both obtaining local control and achieving an abscopal effects—are highly unpredictable with variable magnitudes of response and frequent failure of local recurrence.”

    From Functional tumor cell-intrinsic STING, not host STING, drives local and systemic antitumor immunity and therapy efficacy following cryoablation (2023) · cites this paper as [76]

    The Abstract and Introduction say the abscopal effect is rarely observed, supporting that part of the claim. But the Conclusion says cryoablation has proven successful for local control in various cancers; it does not describe local control as highly unpredictable or report frequent local failure. The cited passages also do not establish variable magnitudes of clinical response. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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References 83 · Cited by 152

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Authors
Aarts, B. M., Klompenhouwer, E. G., Rice, S. L., Imani, F., Baetens, T., Bex, A., Horenblas, S., Kok, M., Haanen, J. B. A. G., Beets-Tan, R. G. H., & Gómez, F. M.
Affiliations
  • Maastricht University Medical Centre (NL)
  • The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
Corresponding author
Aarts, B. M.
ORCID
Venue
Insights into Imaging
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-05-20
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
53-53
ISSN
1869-4101 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s13244-019-0727-5
PMC
PMC6527672
OpenAlex
W2947326813
Cited by
152
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 5
FWCI
1.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Insights into Imaging (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
National Cancer Institute (P30CA008748)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Studies
Keywords
cryoablation, immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, abscopal effect, tumor immune evasion, tumor necrosis, percutaneous ablation, combination therapy, cancer immunotherapy, melanoma, lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma

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