The researchers found that in patients naive to PD-1 therapy, adoptive transfer of TILs mediated an objective response rate of 56 percent and median melanoma-specific survival of 28.5 months compared with 24 percent and 11.6 months, respectively, in patients refractory to aPD-1. Compared with patients naive to targeted therapy, prior treatment with targeted molecular therapy was associated with a reduced response rate (21 versus 60 percent) and decreased survival (9.3 versus 50.7 months) among patients with BRAF V600E/K-mutated disease.

"If you wait to use ACT-TIL as a later-line therapy, you may not get the same durable responses as when you use it up front," a coauthor said in a statement. "We should think about utilizing TILs earlier in the disease course."

Two authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Iovance Biotherapeutics, which partially funded the study.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)