Figure 3: Effects of inflammatory cell death-inducing therapy, immune checkpoint blockade therapy, and potential synergy.

Therapies that induce inflammatory cell death recruit new CD8+ T cells to the tumor through release of DAMPs and cytokines. The long-term functionality of the CD8+ T cells in the tumor immune microenvironment, however, has not been fully characterized. Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti PD-1 therapy increase functionality in CD8+ T cells in addition to other tumor immune-specific effects but are not always sufficient to recruit additional CD8+ T cells needed for full therapeutic efficacy. Combining inflammatory cell death-inducing therapy and immune checkpoint blockades has the potential to potently increase CD8+ T cell numbers and functionality.