Radiation combined with hyperthermia induces HSP70-dependent maturation of dendritic cells and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by dendritic cells and macrophages.

Purpose: Hyperthermia (HT) treatment of cancer patients was revived over the last years and has been proven to be beneficiary for many cancer entities when applied temperature controlled in multimodal treatments. We examined whether a combination of ionizing irradiation (X-ray) and HT (41.5°C; 1 h) can induce the release of heat shock protein (HSP) 70 by tumor cells and thereby lead to the activation of dendritic cells and macrophages.

Combination of ionising irradiation and hyperthermia activates programmed apoptotic and necrotic cell death pathways in human colorectal carcinoma cells.

Purpose: The malignancy of tumor cells can be attenuated by interfering with cell death pathways. Since hyperthermia (HT) is a very potent radiosensitizer, the influence of HT (41.5 °C for 1 hour) alone and in combination with ionising irradiation (X-ray; 5 Gy or 10 Gy) on the form of cell death as well as on the expression of proteins known to be major components in tumor cells' apoptotic and necrotic pathways were examined in colorectal tumor cells.

Application of hyperthermia in addition to ionizing irradiation fosters necrotic cell death and HMGB1 release of colorectal tumor cells.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death in developed countries. Tumor therapies should on the one hand aim to stop the proliferation of tumor cells and to kill them, and on the other hand stimulate a specific immune response against residual cancer cells. Dying cells are modulators of the immune system contributing to anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory responses, depending on the respective cell death form.

AnnexinA5 renders dead tumor cells immunogenic--implications for multimodal cancer therapies.

Multimodal tumor therapies should aim not only to kill the tumor cells, but also to stimulate a specific immune response to keep residual tumor (stem) cells and metastases under control. Apoptotic cells are mostly noninflammatory or even anti-inflammatory while necrotic cells stimulate the immune system. Whether the immunogenicity of apoptotic tumor cells can be increased by interfering with their swift and phosphatidylserine (PS)-dependent clearance by macrophages was examined.

Hyperthermia in combination with X-irradiation induces inflammatory forms of cell death.

Autoimmune diseases and cancer can be treated by influencing the immune system. Apo and nec cells are strong modulators of the immune system contributing to anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory responses, respectively. We examined which form of cell death was induced by HT and X-irradiation.