Table 1. Studies where thermal ablation is combined with immunotherapy.
| Study | Ablation modality | Tumour | Immunotherapy | Clinical/preclinical | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liang et al. (91) | Cryoablation | Breast cancer | NK cell therapy; Herceptin | Human, n=48 | • Well tolerated |
| • Improved progression free survival | |||||
| McArthur et al. (92) | Cryoablation | Breast cancer | Anti-CTLA4-antibody | Human, n=19 (treat and resect study) | • Safe and well tolerated |
| • Increase Th1 cytokines, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood | |||||
| • T-eff: T-reg cell ratio increased in tissue | |||||
| Si et al. (93) | Cryoablation | Prostate cancer | GM-CSF | Human, n=12 | • Improved tumour specific T cell response |
| Yuangying et al. (94) | Cryoablation | NSCLC | DC-CIK injection | Human, retrospective study, n=161 | • Improved survival |
| Thakkur et al. (81) | Cryoablation | Renal cell cancer | GM-CSF | Human, n=6 | • Increase in Th1 cytokines with increase in tumour specific T cells |
| Niu et al. (95) | Cryoablation | HCC | DC-CIK | Human, n=21 | • Improved survival |
| Niu et al. (96) | Cryoablation | Prostate cancer | DC-CIK | Human, n=31 | • Improved survival |
| Domingo-Musibay et al. (62) | RFA; Cryoablation | Melanoma | GM-CSF | Human, n=9 | • Combination was safe and well tolerated |
| Benzon et al. (97) | Cryoablation | Prostate cancer | Anti-CTLA4-antibody Anti-PD1- antibody |
Mouse | • Improved survival |
| • Increase in CD3+ and CD8+ T cells | |||||
| Zhang et al. (98) | Cryoablation | Lewis lung cancer | DC+CpG-ODN injection | Mouse | • Improved survival |
| Lin et al. (99) | Cryoablation | Glioma | DC injection | Mouse | • Improved survival |
| • Increase CD3+, CD4+ T cells | |||||
| Li et al. (100) | Cryoablation | Prostate cancer | Anti-CTLA4-antibody | Mouse | • Reduced number of T reg cells |
| Alteber et al. (101) | Cryoablation | Lewis lung cancer | DC + CpG-ODN | Mouse | • Reduced tumour and metastasis growth |
| • Resistant to rechallenge | |||||
| Machlenkin et al. (102) | Cryoablation | Lung cancer; Melanoma | DC injection | Mouse | • Improved overall survival |
| • Reduction in metastasis | |||||
| • Increase Th1 response | |||||
| Xu et al. (103) | Cryoablation | Glioma | GM-CSF | Mouse | • Increase in activated DC |
| • Increase Th1 response | |||||
| • Increase in tumour specific T cells | |||||
| den Brok et al. (104) | Cryoablation | Melanoma | CpG-ODN | Mouse | • Increase anti-tumour immunes response |
| • Increase in DC function | |||||
| Waitz et al. (105) | Cryoablation | Prostate | Anti-CTLA4 antibody | Mouse | • Improved progression free survival |
| • Resistance to tumour rechallenge | |||||
| • Associated higher T-eff: T-reg cell ratio | |||||
| den Brok et al. (106) | Cryoablation; RFA | Melanoma | Anti-CD25 antibody; anti-CTLA4 antibody |
Mouse | • Improved survival |
| • Resistance to tumour rechallenge | |||||
| Shi et al. (74) | RFA | Colorectal cancer | Anti-PD1 antibody | Mouse | • Improved survival and reduction in distant metastasis |
| • Associated higher T-eff: T-reg cell ratio | |||||
| Nakagawa et al. (69) | RFA | Colon cancer | Activated DC injection | Mouse | • Reduction in distant metastasis |
| Kroeze et al. (71) | RFA | Renal cell carcinoma | IL-2 | Mouse | • Reduction in distant metastasis |
| • Higher levels of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell in tumour tissue | |||||
| Hamamoto et al. (107) | RFA | VX2 | OK-432 | Rabbit | • Improved survival |
| • Reduce growth of distant tumour | |||||
| Habibi et al. (108) | RFA | Breast cancer | IL-7; IL-5 | Mouse | • Reduce tumour growth and metastasis |
| • Reduced MDSC | |||||
| Zhu et al. (109) | MWA | Breast cancer | Combination ICI | Mouse | • Longer survival |
| • Resistance to tumour rechallenge | |||||
| • Associated higher levels of IFNγ | |||||
| Kuang et al. (110) | MWA | Lewis lung | IL2; GMCSF | Mouse | • Longer survival |
NK, natural killer cells; DC, dendritic cells; GM-CSF, granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor; DC-CIK, dendritic cell and cytokine induced killer cells; CPG-ODN, CPG-oligodeoxynucleotides; CTLA4, cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated protein 4; PD1, programmed cell death 1; CD, clusters of differentiation; IL, interleukin; Treg, regulatory T cell; Teff, T effector cell; IFN, interferon; MDSC, myeloid derived suppressor cell.