Abscopal effect

The abscopal effect is a phenomenon in the treatment of metastatic cancer where localized treatment of a tumor causes not only a shrinking of the treated tumor but also a shrinking of tumors in different compartments from the treated tumor. Initially associated with single-tumor, localized radiation therapy, the term has also come to encompass other types of localized treatments such as electroporation and intra-tumoral injection of therapeutics. While this phenomenon is extremely rare, its effect on the cancer can be stunning, leading to the disappearance of malignant growths throughout the entire body. Such success has been described for a variety of cancers, including melanoma, cutaneous lymphomas, and kidney cancer.