Background: Metastatic melanoma is an aggressive and highly malignant cancer. The 5 year survival rate of patients with metastatic disease is less than 5% with a median survival of only 6–10 months. Drugs like dacarbazin (DTIC) as a single agent or in combination with other chemotherapy agents have a response rate of 15–30%, but the duration of response is usually short with no impact on survival. Interleukin-2-based immunotherapy has shown more promising results. The National Institutes of Health recently reported that lymphodepleting chemotherapy, followed by an adoptive transfer of large numbers of anti-tumor specific tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, resulted in an objective regression in 51% of patients.
Objectives: To introduce the TIL technology to advanced metastatic melanoma patients in Israel.
Methods: We generated TIL cultures from tumor tissue, choosing those with specific activity against melanoma and expanding them to large numbers.
Results: TIL cultures from nine patients were established and examined for their specific activity against the patients' autologous tumor cells. Twelve TIL cultures derived from 5 different patients showed the desired anti-tumor activity, making those 5 patients potential candidates for the therapy.
Conclusions: Pre-clinical studies of the TIL technology in a clinical laboratory set-up were performed successfully and this modality is ready for treating metastatic melanoma patients at the Sheba Medical Center's Ella Institute.