Omid Hamid, MD

"Lifileucel is a 1-time therapy. The toxicity is manageable and usually related to the preconditioning or the IL2. So, what you have is the ability to give a viable option to our patients that is a1-time option and can give durability of response.”

The investigational autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy lifileucel (Iovance Biotherapeutics) has demonstrated encouraging efficacy and a manageable safety profile in pooled data from 2 cohorts of patients with heavily pretreated advanced melanoma in the phase 2 C-144-01 (NCT02360579) clinical trial. Data from the study were presented at the 

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 37th Annual Meeting

, November 8-12, 2022, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Amod A. Sarnaik, MD, FACS, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Investigators found that lifileucel had an objective response rate of 31.4% in the 2 cohorts, with 9 complete responses and 39 partial responses. Median duration of response(DOR) was not reached at a median follow up of 36.5 months, and 41.7% of responding patients had a DOR of 24 months or more. Median overall survival (OS) was 13.9 months, and the 12-month OS rate was 54% (95% CI: 45.6%, 61.6%)

 spoke with the study's co-author Omid Hamid, MD, chief, research and immunotherapy, Cedars-Sinai - The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, to learn more about the C-144-01 study and the lifileucel TIL therapy. He discussed the advantages of the therapy in melanoma and how the research forwards progress for immunotherapy in solid tumors as a whole.

Click here to read more coverage of SITC 2022.

Sarnaik A. Lifileucel TIL cell monotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma after progression on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and targeted therapy: Pooled analysis of consecutive cohorts (C-144-01 study). Presented at: Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 37th Annual Meeting November 8-12, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts. Abstract #789

Videos

The chief of research and immunotherapy at Cedars-Sinai The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute discussed updated data from the phase 2 C-144-01 study of the lifileucel TIL therapy. 

Omid Hamid, MD, on Improving Duration of Response in Refractory Melanoma With Lifileucel 

This content originally appeared on our sister site, 

spoke with Omid Hamid, MD, director, Melanoma Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy, director, Melanoma Therapeutics, Phase I Immuno-Oncology Program, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, to learn more about the efficacy of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy following immunotherapy in advanced melanoma.

Lessons are continuing to be learned regarding TIL therapy in melanoma as more data emerge from large clinical trials. Hamid discussed how TIL therapy can be given in any type of hospital setting, meaning it is not limited to academic centers that have facilities where TILs can be manufactured. Many centers have been able to utilize TILs with the help of newer companies that make the therapies off site, Hamid added.

Moreover, it was discovered that in patients who are resistant to other types of immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, TIL therapy can induce durable responses, Hamid continued. Data that have been recently presented demonstrated that approximately 80% of patients responding to TIL therapy were those whose best response to checkpoint inhibition with PD-1 inhibitors was progressive disease, Hamid explains. Additionally, patients who previously benefited from anti­–CTLA-4 therapy have the potential to benefit from this therapy as well, Hamid says.

Overall, these data suggest that adoptive T-cell therapy could become a standard in the care option for patients with metastatic melanoma, Hamid concluded.

The director of the Melanoma Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center discussed the efficacy of TIL therapy following immunotherapy in advanced melanoma.

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy After Immunotherapy in Advanced Melanoma: Omid Hamid, MD

spoke with Omid Hamid, MD, director, Melanoma Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy, and director, Melanoma Therapeutics, Phase I Immuno-Oncology Program, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, to learn more about the differences in evaluation criteria for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapy in melanoma.

The use of adoptive T-cell therapy in melanoma is still new and there is still more to be learned in the field. Immunotherapy is being evaluated with immune RECIST criteria, allowing for some initial progression until the immune system takes effect. The ability to evaluate trials against one another is difficult, as the cohorts are heterogeneous and prior therapies patients received are not similar, Hamid explained. However, trials have opened examining patients with melanoma who received TIL therapy during a period of stable disease with PD-1 inhibitors.

Moreover, cohorts are opening with patients who've developed toxicity with prior checkpoint inhibitors, Hamid continues. Trials are evaluating whether the preconditioning regimens can be changed, whether TIL therapy administration can be changed, and whether other therapies can replace high-dose IL-2, Hamid explains. As such, the field is evaluating the convergence of newer treatments to augment adoptive T-cell therapy, Hamid concludes.

The director of the Melanoma Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center discussed evaluation criteria for TIL therapy in melanoma.

Omid Hamid, MD

Articles

Omid Hamid, MD, on Improving Duration of Response in Refractory Melanoma With Lifileucel

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy After Immunotherapy in Advanced Melanoma: Omid Hamid, MD

Evaluation Criteria for TIL Therapy in Melanoma: Omid Hamid, MD