Integrating TIL-Based Therapy into Melanoma Treatment: Omar Hamid, MD

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

OncLive spoke with Omid Hamid, MD, chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy, director, Melanoma Therapeutics, director, Melanoma Center and Phase I Immuno-Oncology Program, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, about the integration of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)–based therapy into the melanoma armamentarium.

TIL-based therapies are being developed for melanoma and solid tumors in cervical and lung cancer. Hamid discussed centralized processes for TIL production being developed that will allow adoptive T-cell therapies to be more widely accessible to patients. With these processes, Hamid said, the therapy can be given regionally, but produced centrally.

Melanoma is a disease in which TIL-based therapies could have utility, Hamid says. Melanoma has immunotherapeutic options with checkpoint inhibitors as monotherapies or in combination regimens; however, viable therapies have been difficult to develop for second- or third-line use.

Lifileucel (LN-144) is a promising cryopreserved autologous TIL-based therapy that demonstrated long-term responses in patients with heavily pretreated advanced or metastatic melanoma who progressed on checkpoint inhibitor therapy, Hamid concludes.