Given the extensive use of radiation during cancer therapy and that the efficacy of immunotherapy is diminished in patients with lymphopenia (iatrogenic immune suppression), our lab is investigating the mechanisms involved in RIL, to potentially develop a therapy to prevent RIL to improve the outcomes of cancer patients treated with radiotherapy
RIL is associated with poor outcome for several carcinomas, including lung, colon, pancreas, breast, sarcomas and glioblastoma, and with early death from progressive cancer. Recently, we found that lymphopenia can be induced in healthy mice following irradiation of the thorax. This effect is reversed by hematopoietic stem cell replenishment, wherein stem cells from the mouse collected before irradiation are re-administered after irradiation.