Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes – from theory to real practice

Adoptive therapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) has been studied since 1980s. Although some trials showed very high efficacy in melanoma and other tumors no enough data were available for approval of the method perhaps due to the cost, complexity and reproducibility limited to academic centers. Last year the results of prospective phase III trial comparing TIL therapy to standard immunotherapy for melanoma were reported which proved the efficacy and even superiority of the method. This paper reviews the principles of adoptive TIL therapy and the perspectives for further developement.