What is TIL Cell Therapy?
TIL Cell Therapy is a new type of treatment in which tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (a type of immune cell that can recognize and kill cancer cells) are harvested from a patient’s tumor and grown in large numbers in vitro. These lymphocytes are then given back to the patient by infusion to help the immune system recognize and eliminate cancer cells. TIL Cell Therapy is investigational and is currently only available in clinical trials. TIL Cell Therapy has not yet been approved for commercial use by Health Canada, the US Food & Drug Administration (US-FDA) or any other regulatory agency.
(Source: https://tilworkinggroup.com/)
What are endogenous TIL?
TIL are part of the body’s natural response to cancer.
- TIL find and attack cancer cells through immune surveillance
- TIL identify malignant cells via receptors that recognize neoantigens (new proteins generated by tumor mutations) on the surface of cancer cells
- Studies have shown that TIL are diverse and unique to each individual and may be able to recognize a wide range of patient-specific neoantigens
- However, cancer can prevail when the tumor microenvironment evades the body’s natural immune response
(Source: https://www.discovertil.com/)
TIL Cell Therapy Overview
To learn more about the mechanism of action of TIL cell therapy and the components of this novel cell therapy, click through the presentation below.
(Source: https://tilworkinggroup.com/)
Animation – TIL Cell Therapy for Melanoma
This animation provides an overview of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Cell Therapy for melanoma. TIL Cell Therapy is a new type of immunotherapy that utilizes TILs to attack cancer cells. TIL Cell Therapy is investigational and only available in clinical trials. Watch to learn how TIL Cell Therapy is prepared in the lab, how the infusion works, its effectiveness, possible side effects, and its current use in melanoma clinical trials. You may want to ask your doctor if a clinical trial with TIL Cell Therapy could be an option for you.
(Source: https://www.youandmelanoma.com)
NEW! Decision-Support Tool for Stage IV Melanoma
Newly customized for the Canadian audience, this pamphlet, created by AIM at Melanoma and reviewed by Save Your Skin Foundation in March 2023, is a document to support patients and help guide their decision making regarding next steps for stage IV melanoma:
The document addresses:
– Stage IV melanoma clinical picture, biomarkers and pathology, and disease and patient factors involved in decision making
– Efficacy, safety, administration, and family-planning aspects of targeted therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and other therapies used for stage IV melanoma, including TIL therapies
An up-to-date list of available treatments can be found on the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) website’s Provincial drug formulary database, which can be accessed here. For more information about TIL Cell therapies and whether they might be an option for you, ask your Doctor.
Listed above are a few sources of information and support you might find useful. These groups are not connected to Save Your Skin Foundation. We are providing the links as useful sources of information but do not monitor content for accuracy and quality.
NOTE: The information on the Save Your Skin website is not intended to replace the medical advice of a doctor or healthcare provider. While we make every effort to ensure that the information on our site is as current as possible, please note that information and statistics are subject to change as new research and studies are published.
Making awareness and education available is crucial. Since 2006, the Foundation has worked to raise awareness of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers focusing on education, prevention and the need for improved patient care.
