VCU Massey 1st in Virginia to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy

Richmond, Va.-based VCU Health’s Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has become the first facility in Virginia to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for advanced stage melanoma patients.

TIL therapy is approved to treat the about 40% of patients with aggressive melanoma who do not respond to current treatment options, according to an Aug. 18 news release from the health system. 

To administer the therapy, a sample of a patients’ tumor is removed and sent to a separate facility where tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cells are extracted, “amplified and rejuvenated by the billions,” the news release said. 

The immune cells are then returned to Massey and administered to the patient through a one-time infusion.

“We have recruited and trained a high-performing clinical team that operates like the Avengers against late-stage melanoma,” John McCarty, MD, medical director of Massey’s Cellular Immunotherapies and Transplant Program, said in the release. “We’re moving into a completely new era of cellular therapy.”

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