NIH
Combination immunotherapy shrinks metastatic GI cancers
A recent NIH clinical trial demonstrated significant advancements in treating metastatic GI cancers using a combination of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy and the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab. The study, published in Nature Medicine, involved 91 patients with various GI cancers, including colon, rectum, pancreas, and bile duct tumors, which had progressed despite multiple prior treatments.
In the pilot phase, 18 patients were treated with non-selected TILs, resulting in no objective responses. In the second phase, 39 patients received selected TIL therapy, with 7.7% showing objective responses. The third phase involved 34 patients receiving pembrolizumab before selected TIL therapy, leading to the best response rate of 23.5%. All patients had previously undergone standard chemotherapy and high-dose interleukin-2.
Objective responses were observed in multiple types of GI cancers during the trial's second and third phases. Tumor shrinkage lasted between 8 months and over 5.8 years for selected TIL therapy alone, and between 4 months and 3.5 years for the combination therapy. Serious side effects occurred in 30% of patients treated with selected TILs.
Source:
(2025, April 1). NIH. Combination immunotherapy shrank a variety of metastatic gastrointestinal cancers. [News release]. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/combination-immunotherapy-shrank-variety-metastatic-gastrointestinal-cancers