Dr. Hamid on the Efficacy of TILs Following Immunotherapy in Advanced Melanoma

Omid Hamid, MD, director, Melanoma Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy, director, Melanoma Therapeutics, Phase I Immuno-Oncology Program, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, discusses the efficacy of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy following immunotherapy in advanced melanoma.

As more data are emerging from large clinical trials, multiple lessons have been learned regarding TIL therapy in melanoma, Hamid says. For example, TIL therapy can be given in any type of hospital setting, meaning it is not limited to academic centers that have facilities where TILs can be manufactured, Hamid explains. Many centers have been able to utilize TILs with the help of newer companies that make the therapies off site, Hamid adds.

Moreover, it was discovered that in patients who are resistant to other types of immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, TIL therapy can induce durable responses, Hamid continues. Data that have been recently presented demonstrated that approximately 80% of patients responding to TIL therapy were those whose best response to checkpoint inhibition with PD-1 inhibitors was progressive disease, Hamid explains. Additionally, patients who previously benefited from anti­–CTLA-4 therapy have the potential to benefit from this therapy as well, Hamid says.

Overall, these data suggest that adoptive T-cell therapy could become a standard in the care option for patients with metastatic melanoma, Hamid concludes.