FDA Approval for TIL Therapy “Real Milestone” That Has Been “Long Time Coming”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent accelerated approval of a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy in metastatic melanoma “is a real milestone,” after the approach was “pending for decades,” explains Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, deputy director at the NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center. Dr. Weber, who was part of the team to first work with the treatment in the late 1980s, discusses the breakthrough with Robert A. Figlin, MD, the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. They examine what this accelerated approval means for practice and consider the "incredibly expensive cost” associated with the treatment. They also consider the evolving role of high-dose interleukin-2 in this patient population.