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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer. 2018 May 3;124(19):3819–3829. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31517

Figure 1. Abscopal response may eliminate micrometastatic disease in soft tissue sarcoma patients.

Figure 1

In an abscopal response, the primary tumor (green) is treated with radiation therapy, which has been shown to generate a systemic immune response. The anti-tumor immune response is mediated by both CD4 and CD8 T cells (yellow). This response may be further enhanced by blocking the inhibitory checkpoints CTLA-4 (orange) and/or PD-1 (purple) on the surface of CD4 and CD8 T cells. By increasing activation and effector function of T cells, immune checkpoint blockade has the potential to eradicate both irradiated and non-irradiated tumor cells. This has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for patients with soft tissue sarcoma by eradicating micrometastatic disease.