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Purpose: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) has consistently demonstrated clinical efficacy in metastatic melanoma. Recent widespread use of checkpoint blockade has shifted the treatment landscape, raising questions regarding impact of these therapies on response to TIL and appropriate immunotherapy sequence.Patients and Methods: Seventy-four metastatic melanoma patients were treated with autologous TIL and evaluated for clinical response according to irRC, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Immunologic factors associated with response were also evaluated.Results: Best overall response for the entire cohort was 42%; 47% in 43 checkpoint-naïve patients, 38% when patients were exposed to anti-CTLA4 alone (21 patients) and 33% if also exposed to anti-PD1 (9 patients) prior to TIL ACT. Median overall survival was 17.3 months; 24.6 months in CTLA4-naïve patients and 8.6 months in patients with prior CTLA4 blockade. The latter patients were infused with fewer TIL and experienced a shorter duration of response. Infusion of higher numbers of TIL with CD8 predominance and expression of BTLA correlated with improved response in anti-CTLA4 naïve patients, but not in anti-CTLA4 refractory patients. Baseline serum levels of IL9 predicted response to TIL ACT, while TIL persistence, tumor recognition, and mutation burden did not correlate with outcome.Conclusions: This study demonstrates the deleterious effects of prior exposure to anti-CTLA4 on TIL ACT response and shows that baseline IL9 levels can potentially serve as a predictive tool to select the appropriate sequence of immunotherapies. Clin Cancer Res; 24(18); 4416–28. ©2018 AACR.

PDF file - 77K, Long term changes in the persistence of TCR Vβ clonotypes in the blood following TIL adoptive transfer in representative responding patients

PDF file - 58K, Demographics and clinical characteristics of enrolled patients

PDF file - 1856K, Fig. S1. Schema of TIL adoptive cell therapy clinical trial; Fig. S2. Recovery of total white blood cell counts (WBC), absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC), and absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) during adoptive transfer TIL therapy in 31 treated patients; Fig. S3. Durable partial response of an intrathoracic melanoma mass near the aorta and heart in one patient at 6 weeks and 18 months after TIL infusion; Figure S4. Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival and progression-free survival for all 31 treated patients; Figure S5. Kaplan-Meier curves of landmark-based overall survival and progression-free survival for irRC responding and non-responding TIL-treated patients; Fig. S6. Change in tumor burden over the first 20-22 months following TIL transfer therapy in responders and non-responders; Fig. S7. Box and whisker plot showing that telomere length of infused TIL was not significantly different between responders and non-responders

Supplementary figures and tables

PDF file - 69K, Derivation of the irRC best overall score

PDF file - 76k, Table S3. Associations between categorical patient variables and clinical response; Table S4. Associations between continuous variables and clinical response

Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) of in vitro expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) for the treatment of patients with advanced stages of metastatic melanoma remains one of the most beneficial therapies eliciting long-lasting responses. Methods and protocols used to expand TIL have evolved over time, utilizing different culture devices and other tools, to streamline and maximize the end product in both numbers and quality. Summarized in this chapter are the latest protocols used in the TIL program at MDACC.

In this study, we address one of the major critiques for tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy-the time needed for proper expansion of a suitable product. We postulated that T-cell receptor activation in the first phase of expansion combined with an agonistic stimulation of CD137/4-1BB and interleukin-2 would favor preferential expansion of CD8 TIL. Indeed, this novel 3-signal approach for optimal T-cell activation resulted in faster and more consistent expansion of CD8CD3 TIL. This new method allowed for successful expansion of TIL from cutaneous and uveal melanoma tumors in 100% of the cultures in

Purpose: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) has consistently demonstrated clinical efficacy in metastatic melanoma. Recent widespread use of checkpoint blockade has shifted the treatment landscape, raising questions regarding impact of these therapies on response to TIL and appropriate immunotherapy sequence. Patients and Methods: Seventy-four metastatic melanoma patients were treated with autologous TIL and evaluated for clinical response according to irRC, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Immunologic factors associated with response were also evaluated. Results: Best overall response for the entire cohort was 42%; 47% in 43 checkpoint-naïve patients, 38% when patients were exposed to anti-CTLA4 alone (21 patients) and 33% if also exposed to anti-PD1 (9 patients) prior to TIL ACT. Median overall survival was 17.3 months; 24.6 months in CTLA4-naïve patients and 8.6 months in patients with prior CTLA4 blockade. The latter patients were infused with fewer TIL and experienced a shorter duration of response. Infusion of higher numbers of TIL with CD8 predominance and expression of BTLA correlated with improved response in anti-CTLA4 naïve patients, but not in anti-CTLA4 refractory patients. Baseline serum levels of IL9 predicted response to TIL ACT, while TIL persistence, tumor recognition, and mutation burden did not correlate with outcome. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the deleterious effects of prior exposure to anti-CTLA4 on TIL ACT response and shows that baseline IL9 levels can potentially serve as a predictive tool to select the appropriate sequence of immunotherapies. Clin Cancer Res; 24(18); 4416–28. ©2018 AACR.

The low response rates to immunotherapy in uveal melanoma (UM) sharply contrast with reputable response rates in cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients. To characterize the mechanisms responsible for resistance to immunotherapy in UM, we performed immune profiling in tumors from 10 metastatic UM patients and 10 metastatic CM patients by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Although there is no difference in infiltrating CD8+ T cells between UM and CM, a significant decrease in programmed death-1 (PD-1)-positive lymphocytes was observed and lower levels of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in UM metastases compared with CM metastases. Tumors from metastatic UM patients showed a lower success rate of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) growth compared with metastatic CM (45% vs. 64% success), with a significantly lower quantity of UM TIL expanded overall. These studies suggest that UM and CM are immunologically distinct, and provide potential explanation for the impaired success of immunotherapy in UM.

Adoptive transfer of autologous ex vivo expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) is a highly successful cell therapy approach in the treatment of late-stage melanoma. Notwithstanding the success of this therapy, only very few centers worldwide can provide it. To make this therapy broadly available, one of the major obstacles to overcome is the complexity of culturing the TIL. Recently, major efforts have been deployed to resolve this issue. The use of the Gas-permeable flask (G-Rex) during the REP has been one application that has facilitated this process. Here we show that the use of this new device is able to rescue poor TIL growth and maintain clonal diversity while supporting an improved mitochondrial function.

138 Background: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) can produce long lasting treatment responses in patients (pts) with metastatic melanoma. In our initial report of 31 treated pts, we demonstrated overall response rate (ORR) of 48%. Due to the evolution of treatment options for metastatic melanoma with heavy reliance on immunomodulatory therapies, we sought to re-evaluate responses in the era of checkpoint blockade. Methods: Pts receive treatment consisting of 7 days of lymphodepleting chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide and fludarabine. High dose interleukin-2 (720,000 IU/kg IV q 8 hrs up to 15 doses) was infused after TIL infusion. Responses were assessed by imaging per irRC. Results: A total of 74 pts have been treated in our initial TIL study with an updated ORR assessment of 43%. Stratification of pts according to their checkpoint blockade immune-modulator therapy prior to TIL ACT, demonstrated that prior Ipilimumab (Ipi) decreased ORR to 33% compared to 51% in checkpoint naïve pts and decreased overall survival (OS) post-TIL therapy (median 7.7 vs 24.6 months respectively). There were too few pts to assess the impact of anti-PD1 as a single agent. A multiparametric analysis revealed that LDH levels at the time of therapy mainly influences OS and ORR to TIL but still could not invalidate the impact of Ipi prior to TIL ACT. The durability of the response was also found to be different between the 2 groups (30% for Ipi prior and 50% No Ipi prior). This new reality also impacted previously reported parameters that correlated with ORR to TIL ACT such as the expression of B-and-T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) on CD8+ TIL. Interestingly, assessment of mutation load (ML) of the tumors prior to TIL ACT showed that the check point naïve group display a high ML ( > 100) within their tumor whereas some patients who had Ipi prior to TIL have a low ML ( < 100). Conclusions: Our preliminary analysis shows that pre-treatment with Ipi decreases ORR to TIL ACT. Understanding how prior ipi modifies TIL, the tumor and microenvironment will help to define the full extent of the impact and how to best treat Ipi refractory pts with TIL. Clinical trial information: NCT00338377.

Purpose: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) is a promising treatment for metastatic melanoma unresponsive to conventional therapies. We report here on the results of an ongoing phase II clinical trial testing the efficacy of ACT using TIL in patients with metastatic melanoma and the association of specific patient clinical characteristics and the phenotypic attributes of the infused TIL with clinical response. Experimental Design: Altogether, 31 transiently lymphodepleted patients were treated with their expanded TIL, followed by two cycles of high-dose interleukin (IL)-2 therapy. The effects of patient clinical features and the phenotypes of the T cells infused on the clinical response were determined. Results: Overall, 15 of 31 (48.4%) patients had an objective clinical response using immune-related response criteria (irRC) with 2 patients (6.5%) having a complete response. Progression-free survival of more than 12 months was observed for 9 of 15 (60%) of the responding patients. Factors significantly associated with the objective tumor regression included a higher number of TIL infused, a higher proportion of CD8+ T cells in the infusion product, a more differentiated effector phenotype of the CD8+ population, and a higher frequency of CD8+ T cells coexpressing the negative costimulation molecule “B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator” (BTLA). No significant difference in the telomere lengths of TIL between responders and nonresponders was identified. Conclusion: These results indicate that the immunotherapy with expanded autologous TIL is capable of achieving durable clinical responses in patients with metastatic melanoma and that CD8+ T cells in the infused TIL, particularly differentiated effectors cells and cells expressing BTLA, are associated with tumor regression. Clin Cancer Res; 18(24); 6758–70. ©2012 AACR.