SHC Performs First FDA-Approved Cell Therapy for Melanoma
March 4, 2024
Members of the SHC Cell Therapies Facility including Drs. Kirane, Warner and Nurse Coordinator Laura Morris
Stanford Health Care (SHC) performed the first FDA-approved cell therapy for solid tumor case in the country. AMTAGVI (lifileucel) was administered to a patient with metastatic melanoma on Tuesday, February 20, 2024
“We are very excited to launch our Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors Program after 11 months of intensive infrastructure planning,” said Dr. Amanda Kirane, who is the team’s Surgical Champion. Other team members include Nurse Coordinator Laura Morris and Dr. Allison Betof Warner, director of the melanoma program at SHC.
AMTAGVI (lifileucel) is a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. A patient’s cancerous tumor cells are extracted and then dissected to isolate the immune cells. The immune cells are then grown rapidly in a lab environment over the course of several weeks before they are infused back into the patient via IV. The therapy was pioneered by Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute, in the 1980s, but has required significant testing and modification to make it safe for patients.
“With more than half of advanced melanoma patients unresponsive to standard immunotherapy, there is a national critical need to make this type of therapy widely accessible and we are working to quickly ready patients from the waitlist,” said Kirane.
Stanford is one of 29 approved sites for the therapy.
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– TumourTumour-infiltrating lymphocyte cancer therapy nears FDA finish line
The FDA could soon approve Iovance’s lifileucel for advanced melanoma, a much-anticipated milestone for the 35-year-old T cell therapy modality.
– Stanford Cancer InstituteIImmunotherapy and cell therapy expand treatment possibilities for melanoma patients
To learn more about current melanoma treatment and advances in treatment, we talked with SCI member Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, leader of Stanford’s Melanoma & Cutaneous Oncology Clinical Research Group.
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