{"entity":{"id":"til-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"TIL therapy","aka":[],"tldr":"Immune cells that have already found their way into the tumour are harvested, grown to billions, and returned.","summary":"Lifileucel (Amtagvi, Iovance) was approved in 2024 for anti-PD-1-refractory melanoma: ORR 31%, five-year data show durable responses in about a third of responders. Trials in NSCLC (TILVANCE-301), cervical, and head and neck cancer. Next-generation TILs are gene-edited (PD-1 knockout, IL-15 membrane-bound, OBX-115) to reduce IL-2 dependence.","status":"approved","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor-infiltrating_lymphocytes","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor-infiltrating_lymphocytes"},{"label":"Besser et al., intent-to-treat analysis of TIL therapy at Sheba (Clin Cancer Res 2013)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-13-0380"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma","nsclc","cervical","advanced-melanoma"],"sections":["cell-therapy"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["lifileucel"],"companies":["iovance","obsidian-therapeutics","turnstone-biologics"],"institutions":["sheba"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":["michal-besser","jacob-schachter"],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-besser-til-melanoma-intent-to-treat-ccr-2013"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":["cell-therapy-cold-chain","cell-therapy-release-testing","cytokine-therapy"],"notes":[],"principle":"Surgical harvest → ex vivo expansion of polyclonal tumour-reactive T cells with IL-2 → lymphodepletion → infusion with IL-2 support.","strengths":["Naturally polyclonal against the patient's own neoantigens","Works in solid tumours"],"limitations":["Requires resectable tumour and 3-4 week manufacturing","IL-2 toxicity","Single-centre logistics"],"since":2024},"route":"/technologies/til-therapy/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"advanced-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Advanced melanoma (unresectable stage III and stage IV)","route":"/cancers/advanced-melanoma/"},{"id":"cervical","kind":"cancer","name":"Cervical cancer","route":"/cancers/cervical/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"section":[{"id":"cell-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Cell Therapy","route":"/fronts/cell-therapy/"}],"drug":[{"id":"aldesleukin","kind":"drug","name":"Aldesleukin (high-dose IL-2)","route":"/drugs/aldesleukin/"},{"id":"lifileucel","kind":"drug","name":"Lifileucel","route":"/drugs/lifileucel/"},{"id":"tacquell","kind":"drug","name":"Tacquell (autologous melanoma-derived tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes)","route":"/drugs/tacquell/"}],"company":[{"id":"iovance","kind":"company","name":"Iovance Biotherapeutics","route":"/companies/iovance/"},{"id":"obsidian-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Obsidian Therapeutics","route":"/companies/obsidian-therapeutics/"},{"id":"turnstone-biologics","kind":"company","name":"Turnstone Biologics","route":"/companies/turnstone-biologics/"}],"institution":[{"id":"cun-navarra","kind":"institution","name":"Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra / CIMA","route":"/institutions/cun-navarra/"},{"id":"chum","kind":"institution","name":"Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)","route":"/institutions/chum/"},{"id":"chuv-lausanne","kind":"institution","name":"Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) / Ludwig Institute Lausanne","route":"/institutions/chuv-lausanne/"},{"id":"moffitt","kind":"institution","name":"Moffitt Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/moffitt/"},{"id":"nccs","kind":"institution","name":"National Cancer Centre Singapore","route":"/institutions/nccs/"},{"id":"nci","kind":"institution","name":"National Cancer Institute (NIH)","route":"/institutions/nci/"},{"id":"nci-ccr","kind":"institution","name":"NCI Center for Cancer Research (intramural programme)","route":"/institutions/nci-ccr/"},{"id":"nki","kind":"institution","name":"Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AvL)","route":"/institutions/nki/"},{"id":"rigshospitalet","kind":"institution","name":"Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital","route":"/institutions/rigshospitalet/"},{"id":"sheba","kind":"institution","name":"Sheba Medical Center","route":"/institutions/sheba/"},{"id":"sitc","kind":"institution","name":"Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer","route":"/institutions/sitc/"},{"id":"uclh","kind":"institution","name":"University College London Hospitals / UCL Cancer Institute","route":"/institutions/uclh/"}],"person":[{"id":"amod-sarnaik","kind":"person","name":"Amod A. Sarnaik","route":"/people/amod-sarnaik/"},{"id":"gal-markel","kind":"person","name":"Gal Markel","route":"/people/gal-markel/"},{"id":"inge-marie-svane","kind":"person","name":"Inge Marie Svane","route":"/people/inge-marie-svane/"},{"id":"jacob-schachter","kind":"person","name":"Jacob Schachter","route":"/people/jacob-schachter/"},{"id":"john-haanen","kind":"person","name":"John Haanen","route":"/people/john-haanen/"},{"id":"michal-besser","kind":"person","name":"Michal Besser","route":"/people/michal-besser/"},{"id":"pamela-ohashi","kind":"person","name":"Pamela S. Ohashi","route":"/people/pamela-ohashi/"},{"id":"patrick-hwu","kind":"person","name":"Patrick Hwu","route":"/people/patrick-hwu/"},{"id":"shari-pilon-thomas","kind":"person","name":"Shari Pilon-Thomas","route":"/people/shari-pilon-thomas/"},{"id":"steven-rosenberg","kind":"person","name":"Steven A. Rosenberg","route":"/people/steven-rosenberg/"},{"id":"yardena-samuels","kind":"person","name":"Yardena Samuels","route":"/people/yardena-samuels/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-besser-til-melanoma-intent-to-treat-ccr-2013","kind":"paper","name":"Adoptive transfer of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with metastatic melanoma: intent-to-treat analysis and efficacy after failure to prior immunotherapies","route":"/key-papers/paper-besser-til-melanoma-intent-to-treat-ccr-2013/"},{"id":"paper-c-144-01-lifileucel-melanoma-jco-2021","kind":"paper","name":"C-144-01: lifileucel, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes grown from a patient's own tumour, in melanoma after checkpoint inhibitors have failed","route":"/key-papers/paper-c-144-01-lifileucel-melanoma-jco-2021/"},{"id":"paper-rohaas-til-vs-ipilimumab-nejm-2022","kind":"paper","name":"Rohaas 2022: the first randomised trial of TIL therapy, against ipilimumab, in advanced melanoma","route":"/key-papers/paper-rohaas-til-vs-ipilimumab-nejm-2022/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cell-therapy-release-testing","kind":"technology","name":"Cell-therapy release and potency testing","route":"/technologies/cell-therapy-release-testing/"},{"id":"cell-therapy-cold-chain","kind":"technology","name":"Cryopreservation and cell-therapy cold chain","route":"/technologies/cell-therapy-cold-chain/"},{"id":"cytokine-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Cytokines & engineered cytokines","route":"/technologies/cytokine-therapy/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct06481592","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of Lifileucel (Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes) in Adults With Advanced Endometrial Cancer.","route":"/trials/nct06481592/"},{"id":"nct07288203","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of Lifileucel (Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes) in Adults With Advanced Melanoma","route":"/trials/nct07288203/"},{"id":"c-144-01","kind":"trial","name":"C-144-01","route":"/trials/c-144-01/"},{"id":"nct05267626","kind":"trial","name":"Study of AU-007, A Monoclonal Antibody That Binds to IL-2 and Inhibits IL-2Rα Binding, in Patients With Unresectable Locally Advanced or Metastatic Ca","route":"/trials/nct05267626/"}],"term":[{"id":"immune-surveillance-immunoediting","kind":"term","name":"Immune surveillance and cancer immunoediting","route":"/terms/immune-surveillance-immunoediting/"},{"id":"immunotherapy-term","kind":"term","name":"Immunotherapy","route":"/terms/immunotherapy-term/"},{"id":"t-cell","kind":"term","name":"T cell","route":"/terms/t-cell/"},{"id":"tils","kind":"term","name":"Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)","route":"/terms/tils/"}],"pairing":[{"id":"io-then-til","kind":"pairing","name":"PD-1 failure → TIL therapy","route":"/pairings/io-then-til/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"cell-therapy-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Cell therapy roadmap: CD19 CAR-T → solid tumours → in vivo CAR","route":"/roadmaps/cell-therapy-roadmap/"},{"id":"immunotherapy-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Immunotherapy roadmap: Coley's toxins → checkpoint inhibitors → engineered immunity","route":"/roadmaps/immunotherapy-roadmap/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-manufacturing-cell-therapy","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines","route":"/bottlenecks/b-manufacturing-cell-therapy/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-reg-closed-manufacturing-interop-standard","kind":"idea","name":"An open interoperability standard for closed automated cell-processing machines","route":"/ideas/idea-reg-closed-manufacturing-interop-standard/"},{"id":"idea-reg-ai-process-control-cell-manufacturing","kind":"idea","name":"Digital batch records and AI process control to halve cell therapy batch failures","route":"/ideas/idea-reg-ai-process-control-cell-manufacturing/"},{"id":"idea-bio1-organoid-immune-coculture","kind":"idea","name":"Grow tumour organoids together with the patient's own immune cells","route":"/ideas/idea-bio1-organoid-immune-coculture/"},{"id":"idea-fund-hospital-exemption-registry","kind":"idea","name":"Hospital-exemption cell therapies at scale, backed by a shared registry","route":"/ideas/idea-fund-hospital-exemption-registry/"},{"id":"idea-reg-public-cell-therapy-foundries","kind":"idea","name":"Public cell-therapy foundries at cancer centres for academics and start-ups","route":"/ideas/idea-reg-public-cell-therapy-foundries/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-til-reactivity-selection","kind":"idea","name":"Select patients for cell therapy by whether their tumour holds reactive T cells","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-til-reactivity-selection/"},{"id":"idea-fund-shared-personalised-therapy-gmp","kind":"idea","name":"Shared modular GMP facilities for academic personalised vaccines and cell products","route":"/ideas/idea-fund-shared-personalised-therapy-gmp/"},{"id":"idea-bio1-organoid-cell-therapy-potency","kind":"idea","name":"Use patient organoids to check a cell therapy will work before infusing it","route":"/ideas/idea-bio1-organoid-cell-therapy-potency/"},{"id":"idea-bio1-clonal-neoantigen-vaccines","kind":"idea","name":"Vaccines aimed only at mutations shared by every tumour cell","route":"/ideas/idea-bio1-clonal-neoantigen-vaccines/"}],"collection":[{"id":"melanoma-research-alliance","kind":"collection","name":"Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA)","route":"/collections/melanoma-research-alliance/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"t-cell-exhaustion","kind":"pathway","name":"T-cell exhaustion","route":"/pathways/t-cell-exhaustion/"}]}}