Combined Rho-kinase inhibition and immunogenic cell death triggers and propagates immunity against cancer

Abstract

Activation of an immune response is critical for the efficacy of cancer therapies. Here, the authors show that combination of ROCK inhibitor with chemotherapeutics that induce immunogenic cell death of cancer cells leads to increased dendritic cells’ maturation and synergistic CD8+ cytotoxic T cell priming and infiltration into the tumours, leading to suppressed tumour growth and improved overall survival in syngeneic and genetically engineered tumour models.