Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a process where one’s own T cells are expanded and reinfused to fight their cancer. This therapy has proven effective for some patients with stage IV melanoma, however it has proven a challenge to expand this benefit to all patients and patients with other indications. We believe that by selecting on tumor reactive T cells, and expanding only those capable of killing a tumor, that we will improve the efficacy of standard TIL therapy.
With AGX-148, we have developed a streamlined method that expands highly enriched tumor-reactive T cells found within a patient. Our expanded DP TIL can kill autologous tumors as seen in the In-vitro assay below. Here we see tumor cells from a patients progressively growing tumor labeled in red. Added are expanded DP T cells from the same patient. As the T cells kill the tumor a caspase 3/7 dye lights up green. Our goal is to turn this finding into an improved TIL therapy for patients with solid malignancies.