Immune networks in tumors found to prime responses to personalized immunotherapy
Source: MedicalXpress, February 2024
Through an analysis of tumor samples collected over time from patients with advanced melanoma, a Ludwig Cancer Research study has identified a set of preexisting conditions in tumors that predict whether such patients are likely to respond to a personalized immunotherapy known as adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL).
Led by Ludwig Lausanne’s David Barras, Eleonora Ghisoni, Johanna Chiffelle, Denarda Dangaj Laniti, and Branch Director George Coukos and reported in Science Immunology, the study also describes biomarkers that, with further vetting, could help clinicians select patients for TIL-ACT. In this therapy, TIL—which kills cancerous cells—is isolated from a patient, expanded in culture, and then reinfused into the patient as a treatment.
“Given the aggressiveness of advanced melanoma, the potential value of TIL-ACT for patients who respond to it after failing immune checkpoint blockade immunotherapy and other available lines of therapy can’t be overstated," said Coukos.