So far, the combination of NIR-PIT with immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 mAbs (11, 15), or with activation cytokines such as IL-15 have been tested and shown effective in augmenting the efficacy of cancer-cell targeted PIT by enhancing the anti-cancer immune activation (16). The gene discussed is IL15; the disease is cancer.