In Vitro Examinations of Cell Death Induction and the Immune Phenotype of Cancer Cells Following Radiative-Based Hyperthermia with 915 MHz in Combination with Radiotherapy

Title data

Hader, Michael ; Streit, Simon ; Rosin, Andreas ; Gerdes, Thorsten ; Wadepohl, Martin ; Bekeschus, Sander ; Fietkau, Rainer ; Frey, Benjamin ; Schlücker, Eberhard ; Gekle, Stephan ; Gaipl, Udo S.:
In Vitro Examinations of Cell Death Induction and the Immune Phenotype of Cancer Cells Following Radiative-Based Hyperthermia with 915 MHz in Combination with Radiotherapy.
In: Cells. Vol. 10 (2021) Issue 6 . - 1436.
ISSN 2073-4409
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10061436

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

Multimodal tumor treatment settings consisting of radiotherapy and immunomodulating agents such as immune checkpoint inhibitors are more and more commonly applied in clinics. In this context, the immune phenotype of tumor cells has a major influence on the anti-tumor immune response as well as the composition of the tumor microenvironment. A promising approach to further boost anti-tumor immune responses is to add hyperthermia (HT), i.e., heating the tumor tissue between 39 °C to 45 °C for 60 min. One key technique is the use of radiative hyperthermia systems. However, knowledge is limited as to how the frequency of the used radiative systems affects the immune phenotype of the treated tumor cells. By using our self-designed in vitro hyperthermia system, we compared cell death induction and expression of immune checkpoint molecules (ICM) on the tumor cell surface of murine B16 melanoma and human MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells following HT treatment with clinically relevant microwaves at 915 MHz or 2.45 GHz alone, radiotherapy (RT; 2 × 5 Gy or 5 × 2 Gy) alone or in combination (RHT). At 44 °C, HT alone was the dominant cell death inductor with inactivation rates of around 70 for B16, 45 for MDA-MB-231 and 35 for MCF-7 at 915 MHz and 80, 60 and 50 at 2.45 GHz, respectively. Additional RT resulted in 5–15 higher levels of dead cells. The expression of ICM on tumor cells showed time-, treatment-, cell line- and frequency-dependent effects and was highest for RHT. Computer simulations of an exemplary spherical cell revealed frequency-dependent local energy absorption. The frequency of hyperthermia systems is a newly identified parameter that could also affect the immune phenotype of tumor cells and consequently the immunogenicity of tumors.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Keywords:	hyperthermia; radiofrequency; heat source; immune modulatory effects; multimodal tumor treatment; immune checkpoint inhibitors
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science > Department of Physics > Professor Theoretical Physics VI - Simulation and Modelling of Biofluids > Professor Theoretical Physics VI - Simulation and Modelling of Biofluids - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Gekle Faculties > Faculty of Engineering Science > Chair Ceramic Materials Research Institutions Research Institutions > Central research institutes Research Institutions > Research Units Research Institutions > Research Units > Keylab Glass Technology
Result of work at the UBT:	Yes
DDC Subjects:	600 Technology, medicine, applied sciences > 610 Medicine and health
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2026 07:03
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2026 07:03
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/96192