患者罕见但一致的报告显示，放射治疗（RT）并非仅为局部治疗；放射性诱导的癌细胞死亡可触发树突状细胞的活化和招募至原发肿瘤部位，并随后引发对转移病灶的全身免疫反应。尽管最初被认为是异常现象，但将RT与免疫检查点抑制剂疗法结合已被证明可以通过调节免疫抑制性肿瘤微环境显著提高abscopal效应的发生率。临床前研究表明，纳米材料可以通过以下方式进一步提高abscopal效应在各种不同类型的癌症中的可靠性和效果：（1）改变细胞死亡过程，使其更具免疫原性；（2）促进肿瘤抗原从癌细胞死亡部位被捕获并转移至抗原呈递细胞；（3）同时与免疫检查点抑制剂和放射增强剂联合递送。关于纳米材料增强RT以及其与免疫检查点抑制与其他免疫刺激治疗在临床相关环境中的确切机制，仍存在一些未解答的问题。本文的目的是总结该领域最新发展，并突出该领域存在的知识空白。对于纳米材料用于高级放射免疫疗法的临床转化，改进的机制理解将至关重要。本文归类于：治疗方法和药物研发 > 肿瘤疾病的纳米医学。©2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Rare but consistent reports of abscopal remission in patients challenge the notion that radiotherapy (RT) is a local treatment; radiation-induced cancer cell death can trigger activation and recruitment of dendritic cells to the primary tumor site, which subsequently initiates systemic immune responses against metastatic lesions. Although this abscopal effect was initially considered an anomaly, combining RT with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies has been shown to greatly improve the incidence of abscopal responses via modulation of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that nanomaterials can further improve the reliability and potency of the abscopal effect for various different types of cancer by (1) altering the cell death process to be more immunogenic, (2) facilitating the capture and transfer of tumor antigens from the site of cancer cell death to antigen-presenting cells, and (3) co-delivering immune checkpoint inhibitors along with radio-enhancing agents. Several unanswered questions remain concerning the exact mechanisms of action for nanomaterial-enhanced RT and for its combination with immune checkpoint inhibition and other immunostimulatory treatments in clinically relevant settings. The purpose of this article is to summarize key recent developments in this field and also highlight knowledge gaps that exist in this field. An improved mechanistic understanding will be critical for clinical translation of nanomaterials for advanced radio-immunotherapy. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease.© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.