TIL Immunotherapy – Innovative Treatment to Fight Melanoma
TILs, or tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, are special immune system cells (T cells) that are naturally present inside some tumors. TIL therapy consists of collecting TILs from a tumor during a biopsy, or surgical resection, and growing them to very large numbers in a laboratory with interleukin-2 (IL-2), a protein that promotes rapid TIL growth. Once successfully grown to billions in number, the TILs are infused back into the patient, where they actively attack cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. After administering TIL immunotherapy, the size of the metastasis is often quickly reduced. This treatment is at the forefront of cancer therapies around the world, and it’s only offered by a few medical institutions. Sheba Medical Center performs TIL immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma for over 17 years.
