Combining stereotactic body radiation therapy with immunotherapy: current data and future directions

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) offers excellent local control of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but there currently is a need for tolerable systemic therapy to address regional and distant disease progression. One potential option is immunotherapy, which in metastatic NSCLC has shown promise for sustained disease control in a subset of patients. There is also growing evidence for a clinical synergy between radiation and immunotherapy, with several ongoing trials studying the abscopal effect. This review summarizes the current data in the fast-changing field of immuno-radiation therapy, highlighting updates from recent clinical trials.