ArticleCancers2026
TLR7 Agonist Imiquimod Improves the Therapeutic Antitumor Effect of High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy.
Article in Cancers, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Monocyte-Macrophage Lineages in Cancer: Biology, Plasticity, and Therapeutic Targeting.Cancer biome and targeted therapy · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesBrachytherapy (BT) is a local radiation treatment method for solid tumors. A single 10 Gy high-dose-rate (HDR) BT acts as an "in situ" vaccination. Tumor microenvironment (TME)-dependent radio-resistance mechanisms, such as increasing immunosuppression and hypoxia, lead to tumor recurrence after radiotherapy. Our study aimed to determine whether adding imiquimod (IMQ) to anticancer therapy would overcome TME-mediated mechanisms of radiotherapy resistance. IMQ, a toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, acts as an immunostimulant and a vascular normalizing agent.
methodsMice with well-developed tumors were treated with IMQ at a vascular-normalized dose of 50 μg, followed 5 days later by a single 10 Gy HDR BT. The dose coverage was planned using Discovery RT computed tomography CT scans. Irradiation was performed with a high-dose-rate afterloader equipped with an iridium-192 radioactive source.
resultsIn mice treated with a combination of IMQ and BT, we observed significant inhibition of melanoma tumor growth. We also noticed an effective therapeutic effect in mice with breast cancer, resulting in significantly prolonged survival and complete tumor regression in 20% of treated mice. In the blood of treated mice, we observed leukopenia with eosinophilia. In tumors, there was enhanced infiltration by cytotoxic CD8
conclusionsThe combination of IMQ with HDR brachytherapy induces a synergistic effect, improving the therapeutic antitumor effect of brachytherapy. Our data indicate that it is reasonable to use drugs that prevent changes in the TME in combination with radiotherapy.
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