Advances in the Role of Chemokines in Microwave Ablation-Based Combinatorial Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy enhances antitumor immunity to eliminate malignant cells and has great potential to prevent tumor recurrence and distant metastasis. In addition to direct tumor destruction, microwave ablation (MWA) remodels the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and induces antitumor immune responses, providing a strong rationale for combination with immunotherapy. As key regulators of immune-cell trafficking and function, chemokines critically mediate the synergy between MWA and immunotherapy. In this review, we summarize the effects of MWA on the TIME, the central role of chemokine networks in this process, and recent advances in MWA-based combinatorial immunotherapy, including clinical progress. We also discuss current challenges and future directions to support the optimization of multimodal cancer therapy and improve clinical outcomes.