Breakthrough, Life-Saving Cancer Treatment, TIL Therapy, Offers New Hope to Patients with Metastatic Melanoma

The new treatment uses a patient's own tumor and immune system to fight their cancer.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is the first hospital in the Washington metropolitan area to offer Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte therapy, or TIL therapy, to treat metastatic melanoma. This is the first tumor-derived T-cell immunotherapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with the condition.

Also called tumor-derived autologous T-cell immunotherapy, this groundbreaking therapy leverages a patient's immune system to fight advanced melanoma, offering hope to patients who would have otherwise had no other effective treatment options.

TIL therapy is a patient-specific therapy derived from an active melanoma tumor that is removed by a surgeon. In the laboratory, the tumor is processed to extract and expand a special type of white blood cells called T-lymphocytes. They are grown in cell culture with interleukin-2 and other stimulating factors to help them expand into billions of cancer-fighting immune cells. This process primes the T-lymphocytes to target and destroy cancer cells. The T-lymphocytes, along with other medications, are then infused back into the patient as a one-time treatment course.

"We're thrilled to be the first in the Washington metropolitan area to offer this new life-saving, FDA-approved treatment that provides a chance for durable, long-term responses in patients with advanced melanoma," said Dr. Geoffrey Gibney, leader of the Melanoma Disease Group at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

MedStar Georgetown is part of the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute, which combines MedStar Health's clinical expertise with our research engine, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center—the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)- designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Washington, D.C., region. This collaboration brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts, providing patients access to breakthrough treatments and cutting-edge clinical trials.

For more information, call 202-993-0492.

DOWNLOADABLE VIDEO: Dr. Gibney on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy.

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SOURCE MedStar Georgetown University Hospital