Radiation and the Immune System: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Book excerpt: For long, high dose ionizing radiation was considered as a net immune suppressing agent, as shown, among others, by the exquisite radiosensitivity of the lymphoid system to radiation-induced cell killing. However, recent advances in radiobiology and immunology have made this picture more complex. For example, the recognition that radiation-induced bystander effects, share common mediators with various immunological signalling processes, suggests that they are at least partly immune mediated. Another milestone was the finding, in the field of onco-immunology, that local tumor irradiation can modulate the immunogenicity of tumor cells and the anti-tumor immune responsiveness both locally, in the tumor microenvironment, and at systemic level. These observations paved the way for studies exploring optimal combinations of radiotherapy and immunotherapy in order to achieve a synergistic effect to eradicate tumors. However, not all interactions between radiation and the immune system are beneficial, as it was recognized that many of radiation-induced late side effects are also of immune and inflammatory nature. Currently perhaps the most studied field of research in radiation biology is focused around the biological effects of low doses, where many of the observed pathophysiological endpoints are due to mechanisms other than direct radiation-induced cell killing and are immune-related. Finally, it must not be forgotten that the interactions between the ionizing radiations and the immune system are bi-directional, and activation of the immune system also influences the outcome of radiation exposure. This Research Topic brings together 23 articles and aims to give an overview of the complex and very often contradictory nature of the interactions between ionizing radiation and the immune system. Due to its increasing penetrance in the population both through medical diagnostic or environmental sources or during cosmic travel low dose ionizing radiation exposure is becoming a major epidemiological concern world-wide. Several of the articles within the Research Topic specifically address potential long-term health consequences and the underlying mechanisms of low dose radiation exposure. A major intention of the Editors was also to draw the attention of the non-radiobiological scientific community on the fact that ionizing radiation is by far more than purely an immune suppressing agent.