Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, a form of adoptive cell transfer, extracts white blood cells already present within a patient own tumor, expands them in the laboratory, and reinfuses them to attack the cancer. Surgeons remove tumor tissue, which is fragmented to isolate lymphocytes; separate cell cultures are tested for their ability to recognize cancer cells, and the most effective cultures are rapidly expanded over about two weeks before patients typically receive chemotherapy to deplete their existing lymphocytes so the transferred cells can more easily reach the tumor. The therapy has shown substantial success against metastatic melanoma, with response rates of 50 percent or more in clinical trials, and a phase III trial running from 2014 to 2022 found it superior to the drug ipilimumab in that setting; it is now offered at major cancer centers and is under investigation for colorectal, cervical, lung, ovarian, bladder and breast cancers.