Recent findings indicate that while radiotherapy aims to eliminate tumors, it can also trigger mechanisms that promote metastasis. Specifically, research has shown that radiotherapy enhances the expression of the EGFR ligand amphiregulin in tumor cells. This change reprograms myeloid cells, which express EGFR, toward an immunosuppressive state, reducing their ability to engulf and destroy cancer cells. As a consequence, distant metastasis growth is stimulated in both human patients and pre-clinical mouse models. Thus, inhibiting the tumor-promoting effects of radiotherapy emerges as a promising strategy to enhance patient outcomes in cancer care.
Radiotherapy can enhance metastasis via induction of amphiregulin, which reprograms EGFR-expressing myeloid cells to an immunosuppressive phenotype, leading to tumor growth.
Targeting the pathways activated by radiotherapy that promote metastasis could offer a new approach to improving patient outcomes in cancer treatment.
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