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- Orlando, FL (February 22, 2024) – Physicians at Orlando Health who pioneered a breakthrough protocol using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) to treat aggressive, late-stage melanoma and other advanced cancers is now available for patients.
The groundbreaking treatment, now approved by the FDA, for patients with melanoma, is the result of a multi-center international clinical trial under the direction of principal investigator Sajeve Thomas, MD, a board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist with Orlando Health Cancer Institute.
Called AMTAGVI (lifileucel), this novel approach utilizes the patient’s own T-cells to combat the disease. “We isolate the cancer-specific T-cells from a resected tumor, expand and proliferate them, producing anywhere from one billion to 150 billion cells,” says Dr. Thomas, who specializes in the treatment of melanoma, sarcoma and gastrointestinal conditions. “We then infuse the T-cells back to the patient, combined with additional medications to re-energize these cytotoxic T-cells against the cancer. This is done in a single infusion during one hospital admission.”
When patients respond well to treatment, results can be dramatic, melting tumors in a matter of weeks with no further therapies. The clinical trials found tumors shrank or remained stable in about 31.5% of patients, with 43.5% of those patients continuing to have a good response 12 months after treatment.
Tumors can continue to regress, becoming non-existent in some patients, who remain progression-free months and even years after the initial treatment. Based on this success, researchers at Orlando Health continue to conduct trials expanding TIL therapy for frontline melanoma combined with checkpoint inhibitors, lung, cervical, and head/neck, and several other cancers.
Orlando Health is the only location in Central Florida to provide cellular therapy using TIL.
