An experimental therapy for melanoma looks promising, based on a preliminary report published online Sept. 19 in Science Express.
The investigators generate T-cells specific to a patient’s tumor in vitro, then treat the patient with immunosuppressive chemotherapy and interleukin-2 (IL-2) to allow the new cells to proliferate when reinfused.
Two of 13 patients (15%) had dramatic responses and six (46%) had over 50% tumor shrinkage. “In the past, only a fraction of a percent of the cells we injected were able to survive, and they would persist for only a few days,” lead author Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute, says in a news release.
“We have been able to generate a very large number of immune cells that appear in the blood and constitute a majority of the immune system of the patient. These persist for over four months and are able to attack the tumor.”
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