therapeutic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (National Cancer Institute)

Therapeutic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are an autologous adoptive cell therapy developed primarily by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. The therapy involves the surgical resection of a patient's tumor to isolate naturally occurring T cells that have infiltrated the tumor microenvironment. These cells are then expanded to large numbers *ex vivo* using high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2). Once expanded, the TILs—which are enriched for T cells recognizing a broad array of patient-specific neoantigens and tumor-associated antigens—are re-infused into the patient following a non-myeloablative lymphodepleting chemotherapy regimen (typically cyclophosphamide and fludarabine). This approach leverages the patient's own immune system to provide a polyclonal anti-tumor response, which has demonstrated significant objective response rates in patients with refractory metastatic melanoma.

Other names

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytesAutologous TILsNCI-TIL