title: Intratumoral adoptive immunotherapy with tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in a melanoma patient leading to regression of local tumor mass. A case report.
abstract: We describe a 52-year old man with a confined massive subcutaneous and intramuscular tumor metastasis on his back. He was treated with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) which were gained from the tumor of his back 3 months previously. Between 2.5 x 10(7) and 2 x 10(8) TIL were administered, five times at 2-week-intervals on day 2 in combination with a continuous subcutaneous infusion of interleukin(IL)-2 (1.8 x 10(6) IE/24 hours) over 3 days and a single intratumoral injection of a low dose of interferon(IFN)-alpha (1 x 10(6) IE) on day 1. There were no severe side effects. Immunotherapy led to a consistent regression of the tumor mass. After 3 months, treatment was discontinued due to the development of intracranial metastases. In parallel, due to an erythematous induration at the infusion site, it became increasingly difficult to infuse IL-2 subcutaneously. Additionally, high titers of anti-IL-2-antibodies were detected in serum. Following cessation of the immunotherapy and brain irradiation, the patient's clinical course has remained stable over the past 5 months, suggesting that small amounts of TIL with a low-dosed IL-2 may be helpful in the treatment of local tumor masses.
authors.affiliation: Virchow Klinikum, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wittig
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schadendorf
mesh_terms: D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007376:Interleukin-2