Internal medicine

Receptor

Immunotherapy

Abscopal effect

Oncology

Immunology

Blockade

Immune checkpoint

Cancer research

Radiation therapy

Medicine

Immune system

Nature Biomedical Engineering

Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy relies on energized cytotoxic T cells attacking tumour tissue systemically. However, for many cancers, the reliance on T cell infiltration leads to low response rates. Conversely, radiotherapy has served as a powerful therapy for local tumours over the past 100 years, yet is rarely sufficient to cause systemic tumour rejection. Here, we describe a treatment strategy that combines nanoscale metal–organic framework (nMOF)-enabled radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy with checkpoint blockade immunotherapy for both local and systemic tumour elimination. In mouse models of breast and colorectal cancer, intratumorally injected nMOFs treated with low doses of X-ray irradiation led to the eradication of local tumours and, when loaded with an inhibitor of the immune checkpoint molecule indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, the irradiated nMOFs led to consistent abscopal responses that rejected distal tumours. By combining the advantages of local radiotherapy and systemic tumour rejection via synergistic X-ray-induced in situ vaccination and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibition, nMOFs may overcome some of the limitations of checkpoint blockade in cancer treatment. Combining immune checkpoint inhibition with radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy, enabled by intratumorally injected nanoscale metal–organic frameworks, promotes systemic antitumour immunity and tumour rejection in mouse models of breast and colorectal cancer.

Low-dose X-ray radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy via nanoscale metal–organic frameworks enhances checkpoint blockade immunotherapy