In the last decade there have been huge progress in clinical oncology. New therapies can help natural self-defense system, the immune system, fight cancer successfully. Back by a grant from the Chemotherapy+ Foundation, Dr. Demaria and her lab uses a standard treatment, radiation therapy, to convert the tumor growing in a patient into a vaccine against itself (known as “in situ vaccination”). The radiation therapy appears to reprogram the tumor’s interaction with the immune system with signals that mimic a viral infection. By “lighting up” the tumor the immunity system identifies it and activates cancer-killing t-cells. This radiation-induced inflammatory response increases the ability of the immune system to detect the tumor. Clinical trials have begun and look very promising.