A phase 3 clinical trial testing a type of individualized cell therapy that uses tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)—surgically obtained white blood cells that have infiltrated a person’s tumor—significantly improved progression-free survival when compared with standard immunotherapy with ipilimumab in people with unresectable stage 3C-4 melanoma. The study results were presented at the 2022 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

“The results of this trial may fuel further research of TIL in other cancer types, potentially demonstrating benefit in many other solid tumors and expanding available treatments for patients,” Maya Dimitrova, MD, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, tells Medscape.

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