Figure 1.

The cancer immunity cycle and the effects of thermal ablation: the cancer immunity cycle demonstrates the steps needed to induce an anticancer immune response. Step 1: tumour antigen release; step 2: Antigen presenting by dendritic cells; step 3: Priming and activation of T cells; step 4: T cell proliferation and trafficking to tumour cells; step 5: infiltration of T cells into tumour; step 6: tumour cell recognition by T cells and step 7: Tumour cell death. Immune checkpoint inhibitors can assist with steps 3, 6 and 7. Current evidence would suggest that thermal ablation would upregulate steps 1 and 2 as well as augment step 5.