Recent evidence suggests that immune mechanisms contribute to the outcome of cancer radiotherapy. In the proposed project, the release of 'find-me' signals by irradiated cancer cells and the trafficking of antigen presenting cells (APCs) will be studied with focus on the contribution of these mechanisms to the radiotherapeutic success. Specifically, we want to (i) characterize the type of tumor cell death induced by different radiotherapeutic regimes, (ii) dissect the dynamics of intra-tumoral APC recruitment, activation, and lymph node homing, and (iii) assess the contribution of APC-triggered adaptive immune responses to tumor control.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
