Takayanagi Taisuke, Miyazaki Koichi, Yamasaki Kana, Yamada Takahiro, Ebina Futaro, Kanehira Takahiro, Onodera Yasuhito, Kobashi Keiji, Taguchi Hiroshi, Yasuda Koichi, Katoh Norio, Hashimoto Takayuki, Aoyama Hidefumi, Shirato Hiroki, Chamoto Kenji
Hitachi, Ltd. Research and Development Group, 2-1, Omika 7, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 319-1292, Japan.
Division of Immunology and Genomic Medicine, Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunobiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jun 6;15(1):19940. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-04715-9.
Combining radiotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors is a promising approach to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment. However, the success rates of these clinical studies are limited. It is essential to determine the optimal irradiation scheme that maximizes the therapeutic effect by taking into account the balance between the positive and negative effects of radiation on immunity. In this context, we developed a mathematical mechanistic model that simulates (1) the balance between effector and exhausted cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs), (2) the number of neoantigens released by high-dose irradiation, and (3) the impact of radiation on draining lymph nodes (DLNs) for systemic anti-tumor immunity, and tested whether this mathematic model fits in several animal experiments. Our mechanistic model reproduced the anti-tumor effects of several cancer treatment models for combination therapies with radiation, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and/or a metabolic modulator. Furthermore, this mechanistic model simulated that tumor suppression in distant metastatic foci, known as the abscopal effect, was dysregulated by hypofractionated high-dose irradiation or by the direct radiation exposure on DLN. The mechanistic model successfully reproduced tumor control under various treatment conditions with appropriate parameters, indicating that it may be useful for optimizing immunoradiotherapy prescriptions.
将放射疗法与免疫检查点抑制剂相结合是提高癌症治疗效果的一种有前景的方法。然而,这些临床研究的成功率有限。考虑到辐射对免疫的正负效应之间的平衡,确定能使治疗效果最大化的最佳照射方案至关重要。在此背景下,我们开发了一个数学机理模型,该模型模拟:(1)效应性和耗竭性细胞毒性T淋巴细胞(CTL)之间的平衡;(2)高剂量照射释放的新抗原数量;(3)辐射对引流淋巴结(DLN)的影响以实现全身抗肿瘤免疫,并测试该数学模型是否适用于多个动物实验。我们的机理模型重现了几种癌症治疗模型采用放疗、免疫检查点抑制剂和/或代谢调节剂联合治疗的抗肿瘤效果。此外,该机理模型模拟了低分割高剂量照射或直接照射DLN会导致远处转移灶的肿瘤抑制失调,即所谓的远隔效应。该机理模型通过适当的参数成功重现了各种治疗条件下的肿瘤控制情况,表明它可能有助于优化免疫放疗方案。