Tumor Treating Fields: killing two birds with one stone

Given its aggressive natural history and immunosuppressive nature, glioblastoma (GBM) remains difficult to treat. Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are a promising treatment for GBM patients, yet the entirety of their antitumor action has not been fully elucidated. In a recent issue of the JCI, Chen et al. explored the effect of TTFields in reinvigorating immune responses. By elegant step-by-step approaches, the authors demonstrated that TTFields promote the production of immune-stimulating proinflammatory and interferon type 1 cytokines in tumor cells in a cGAS/STING- and AIM2 inflammasome–dependent mechanism, thereby activating the immune system. The findings show that TTFields not only directly inhibit tumor cell growth, as previously reported, but enhance antitumor immunity, suggesting TTFields can be used as an immune-modulating approach in GBM.