therapeutic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (Iovance Biotherapeutics)

Therapeutic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are an autologous adoptive cell therapy developed and investigated by the University of Southern California (USC) for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. The therapy involves the surgical removal of a patient's tumor tissue to isolate naturally occurring T-cells that have already recognized and infiltrated the malignancy. These TILs are then expanded ex vivo to billions of cells using high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) and sometimes other growth factors. Once expanded, the polyclonal T-cell population, which possesses a broad repertoire of native T-cell receptors (TCRs) specific to the patient's unique tumor-associated antigens, is re-infused into the patient. In clinical trials at USC, TIL therapy has been evaluated in Phase II studies, often in combination with other immunotherapeutic strategies such as peptide-pulsed dendritic cell vaccines (targeting MART-1, gp100, and tyrosinase) and systemic cytokines to enhance the persistence and anti-tumor efficacy of the infused cells.

Other names

TILstumor-infiltrating lymphocytesautologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytestherapeutic tumor infiltrating lymphocytes