T Cells From Melanoma Patients Show Immunotherapy Promise
Source: Clinical Oncology, July 2105
T cells derived from patients with melanoma can provoke a protective immune response against the disease, according to the results of a new study.
The findings, published in the Journal of Immunotherapy (2015;38[6]:229-238, PMID: 26049546), demonstrate a novel technique whereby T cells derived from the lymph nodes of melanoma patients can be expanded, activated in the laboratory and administered intravenously to treat patients, the investigators wrote.
Previous clinical trials using lymph node-derived T cells generated only modest responses, compared to the robust responses that had been observed in mouse models, the investigators wrote. They hypothesized that one reason for this disparity might be that in mouse models, the lymph nodes were draining progressively growing tumors, while in the human trials, the lymph nodes were draining artificially constructed melanoma vaccines. The investigators noted that there is no direct evidence that T cells derived from progressively growing tumor are immunologically similar to those derived from artificially constructed melanoma vaccines.
The investigators developed a method to derive T cells from the lymph nodes of melanoma patients. The lymph nodes were surgically removed prior to deriving and activating the T cells. The culture and expansion process “involves neither selection of specific clones nor gene modification,” the investigators wrote, noting that this makes the process easier to regulate in the lab. “The potential for broad application of these findings is significant and directly translational,” they added.
As a result of these findings, the investigators have launched a Phase I trial to test this technique in patients with advanced melanoma at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, in Cleveland.
If this technique proves effective in human trials, the investigators said, they hope to develop similar therapies for pancreatic cancer and eventually other cancer types.