NEJM Paper (a Randomized Open-Label Trial) Walkthrough
Treating advanced melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer, has become a promising field in the past few years. One of the most frequently used treatments is the blockage of Programmed death 1 (PD-1) protein using drugs such as nivolumabor pembrolizumab. This treatment has helped a significant number of patients, but it is not a cure-all. In some cases, combining the treatment with another drug called ipilimumab has shown better results, but the downside is the higher incidence of severe adverse events.
KEY POINTS
There are different types of treatment for patients with melanoma.
Five types of standard treatment are used:
Surgery
Chemotherapy
Radiation therapy
Immunotherapy
Targeted therapy
New types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials.
Vaccine therapy
Recently, researchers have been exploring alternative treatments for melanoma. One of these is the use of a personalized therapy called adoptive cell therapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).
TILs have been used as a treatment after other treatments have failed. For example, TILs have been shown to be effective even in patients whose cancer progressed while they were receiving PD-1 blocking therapy. This is a hopeful development, as the standard treatments do not work for everyone, and there is a need for more options.
However, there have not been direct comparisons of TILs with standard treatments, so it is not possible to say for certain which treatment is better. This is why a large, randomized trial is currently underway, comparing TILs with the standard treatment of ipilimumab as a first- or second-line treatment for advanced melanoma.
At Fresh Wind Biotech, we strongly believe that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes can be prepared from various kinds of solid tumors, as we have been able to expand them from a broad range of cancers in our facilities with a high success rate. Get in touch, if you want to learn more.
This recent clinical trial published in NEJM has shown promising results for TIL therapy in treating advanced melanoma. The study compared TIL therapy with the previously used second-line option, Ipilimumab (CTLA-4). The results showed that progression-free survival was twice as long for patients in the TIL group, with the hazard of disease progression or death being 50% lower. These positive results occurred within 6 months after the start of the study and were maintained over time.
TIL therapy, which has shown potential in previous phase 1-2 trials, was also effective as first-line treatment in the study. Nine out of 80 patients (11%) received TILs as first-line treatment, and there were no major differences in progression-free survival between patients who had received no previous therapy, adjuvant therapy, or first-line anti-PD-1 therapy. This suggests that TIL therapy may be a viable option for first or second-line treatment for metastatic disease in advanced melanoma patients.
In comparison to other treatments for advanced melanoma, TILs have shown to be more effective than a combination of Ipilimumab and Nivolumab, and also more effective than Ipilimumab monotherapy. These results provide hope for melanoma patients who have had limited clinical benefits with traditional treatments, and the study suggests that TIL therapy is a promising option for these patients.
At Fresh Wind Biotech, we strongly believe that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes can be prepared from various kinds of solid tumors, as we have been able to expand them from a broad range of cancers in our facilities with a high success rate. Get in touch, if you want to learn more.
Comments