Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy

Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. At UT Southwestern Medical Center, our specialists offer this leading-edge treatment for people who have advanced melanoma. We are also expanding its use through clinical research for other solid tumors.

Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

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What Is TIL Therapy?

TIL therapy is a type of cellular therapy that helps the body’s immune system find and destroy cancer cells.

Unlike other immune cells, TILs travel directly into tumors and work to destroy them. The challenge is that the body doesn’t make enough TILs on its own to fight cancer.

TIL therapy strengthens this natural defense. Doctors remove a small piece of the tumor and collect the TILs that have already entered it. In a lab, a specialized team multiplies the TILs by the billions and prepares them for delivery to the patient. The patient receives a short round of chemotherapy to prepare their immune system to receive the TILs. Then, doctors deliver the boosted TILs into the patient's bloodstream through an IV. The infused TILs increase the circulating count of immune cells capable of destroying cancer cells.

TIL therapy is FDA approved to treat metastatic cutaneous melanoma, which is melanoma that has spread throughout the body.

Why Choose UT Southwestern for TIL Therapy?

UT Southwestern is one of the few centers in Texas offering TIL therapy. Patients benefit from our:

National leadership in cell therapy: Our team helped pioneer immunotherapies to treat cancer. These treatments include TIL therapy, TCR (T-cell receptor therapy), and CAR T-cell therapy.
Experts in cancer care: Our specialists in medical oncology, surgical oncology, and cellular therapy work as a team. We bring our experience together to plan each patient’s treatment.
Coordinated care: A dedicated multidisciplinary medical team guides patients through every step of their care. Our support starts with each patient’s evaluation and tumor cell collection and continues through infusion and recovery.
Access to research: As an academic medical center, UT Southwestern offers patients the chance to take part in clinical trials. This research studies new ways to improve TIL therapy and expand its use to other cancers.

As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Texas, we offer access to the latest diagnostic tools and treatments. NCI designation means that we offer the broadest possible range of clinical trials, giving patients access to potential therapies not available at other facilities.

What Are the Benefits of TIL Therapy?

TIL therapy offers new hope for many patients who have advanced cancer. The possible benefits of TIL therapy include:

A treatment option for cancer that was once considered untreatable
Use of the body’s own immune cells to target cancer
Long-lasting responses, with some patients remaining cancer-free for years after treatment
Fewer long-term side effects than long courses of chemotherapy or radiation

What Conditions Does TIL Therapy Treat?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a type of TIL therapy to treat advanced skin melanoma previously treated with immunotherapy or targeted therapies. This is cancer that either cannot be removed surgically or has spread from its site of origin to other parts of the body.

Our researchers are also evaluating other types of TIL therapy in clinical research trials.

Our cancer specialists will talk with patients about whether TIL therapy may be right for them.

Hand of the patient is on drip receiving an IV in a hospital bed.

What Should Patients Expect During TIL Therapy?

TIL therapy usually involves several steps and multiple medical teams:

Tumor sample collection: Surgeons remove a small piece of tumor tissue. This procedure usually happens during an outpatient visit.
Cell growth: In the lab, scientists grow and expand billions of the most active immune cells from the tumor, a process that can take multiple weeks.
Chemotherapy: Before infusion, patients receive a short course of chemotherapy. This treatment helps prepare the immune system for the infusion of the manufactured TIL cells.
Cell infusion: Patients receive the new cells through an IV (intravenous) line. The infusion delivers the therapy into the bloodstream. The cells then travel throughout the body to identify and destroy cancer cells. Patients will receive medicines such as interleukin-2 to help support TIL therapy activity and treatment response.
Recovery: Our care team closely monitors patients in the hospital for multiple days following TIL therapy. After discharge from the hospital, patients will need to return for regular follow-up visits and may need to stay locally near their care team for at least a month for close monitoring.

The care team will check on the patient’s recovery and monitor how well the treatment and their immune system are working.

What Clinical Trials Are Available for TIL Therapy?

Through ongoing research at UT Southwestern, eligible patients have access to clinical trials. These research studies explore new ways to make TIL therapy more effective and expand its use to other cancers.

Patients can talk with their doctors about clinical trials or search for current studies.