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About the Immuno-Radiotherapy Interest Group

Radiotherapy, the most widely used cancer treatment, has generated significant interest as a potential partner for immunotherapy because of its widespread clinical availability and its ability to stimulate immune responses. However, despite this promise, numerous randomized clinical trials combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy have failed to demonstrate a clear therapeutic advantage over either treatment alone. This highlights the urgent need for more effective combination strategies in preclinical and clinical settings that offer enhanced efficacy while maintaining manageable toxicity profiles. Traditionally, radiotherapy has focused primarily on maximizing tumor cell destruction while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue, with limited consideration given to the potential immunological effects of radiation. Successful radiotherapy-immunotherapy combinations will likely require modifications to standard radiotherapy protocols. Adjustments in radiation doses and treatment volumes, aimed at optimizing immune response while maximizing tumor cell killing, may be critical to enhancing the anti-tumor immune response and achieving meaningful clinical outcomes.

Goals

To facilitate progress in this area, the NCI Interest Group will bring together clinicians and researchers with expertise in radiotherapy and/or immunology to foster a dialogue on how best to combine radiation therapy with immunotherapy to yield more effective cancer therapies.

Interest Group Co-chairs

Zachary Morris, M.D. (University of Wisconsin) zmorris@humonc.wisc.edu
Andrew Sikora, M.D. (Baylor College) andrew.sikora@bcm.edu
Samir Khleif, M.D. (Georgetown University) snk48@georgetown.edu

Teleconference Schedule

  • The Interest Group meets virtually via the Zoom platform on the first Tuesday every other month at 3 pm ET – this Interest Group is a merger of RRP’s Radiation and Immunomodulation Interest Group with the Immuno-Oncology Translation Network (IOTN) Immuno-radiotherapy Working Group. The newly merged group is called the “Immuno- Radiotherapy Interest Group”.
  • The group membership is approximately 75.

Activities and Accomplishments

Clinical Trials

  1. Pembrolizumab With or Without Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Merkel Cell Cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03304639).
  2. Durvalumab and Tremelimumab With or Without High or Low-Dose Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Colorectal or Non-small Cell Lung Cancer – CTEP Project Team Trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02888743).

Workshops

  1. Morris ZS, Demaria S, Monjazeb AM, et.al.  Proceedings of the National Cancer Institute Workshop on combining immunotherapy with radiotherapy: challenges and opportunities for clinical translation.  Lancet Oncol. 2025 Mar;26(3):e152-e170. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00656-9. PMID: 40049206
  2. A.E. Marciscano, J.M. Walker, H.M. McGee,  et. al., Incorporating Radiation Oncology into Immunotherapy: proceedings from the ASTRO-SITC-NCI immunotherapy workshop.  J Immunother Cancer, 6 (2018) 6. doi: 10.1186/s40425-018-0317-y. PMID: 29375032; PMCID: PMC5787916

Interested in becoming a member of the RI Interest Group?

Please Contact the Interest Group Coordinator:

Moly J. Aryankalayil, Ph.D. 
Radiation Research Program National Cancer Institute
Division of Cancer Treatment & Diagnosis
240-858-3002
aryankalayilm@mail.nih.gov

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