Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, chief, Surgery Branch, senior investigator, head, Tumor Immunology Section, National Cancer Institute, explains advancements in adoptive cell therapy for the treatment of melanoma.

Immunotherapies such as ipilimumab, interleukin 2 (IL-2), anti—PD-L1 agents, and anti-CD40 antibodies, have, at their basis, the reactivity against individual unique somatic mutations that can occur in cancer, says Rosenberg. This presents a daunting problem, as it requires a personalized medicine approach, he says.

Unique sematic T-cell mutations can be recognized in patients, says Rosenburg. Large amounts of these T-cells can then be grown and then be injected back into patients.

In a recent trial looking at this treatment method, 24% of patients had complete regressions of all metastatic disease. Of the 194 patients that have been treated with tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in patients with melanoma, the overall response rate is over 50%, with 42 patients experiencing complete regressions, says Rosenberg.

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Dr. Steven Rosenberg on the Curative Potential of Adoptive Cell Therapy

Stephen Rosenberg, MD, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, discusses a study examining if online patient information provided by National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center websites is too complex for general readership.

Researchers examined various NCI-designated websites to collect patient-specific information and enter it through readability software. Ten common readability tests were administered and it was determined that the majority of information was written at a high school senior/college freshman level. However, the United States Department of Human Health and Services requests that such information should be written at a sixth-grade level for the general population, Rosenberg says.

These findings demonstrate that online information provided to patients was not written at a level that patients could understand. There is a wide disconnect between what NCI-designated cancer centers are doing to provide information to patients versus what they should be doing, Rosenberg adds.

Dr. Rosenberg on Complexity of Online Patient Information From NCI Cancer Center Websites

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Chief of Surgery, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Melanoma: Giant of Cancer Care, discusses the curative potential of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.

Promising cell therapies are currently being developed as potential treatments for patients with multiple types of cancer at the NCI, Rosenberg notes. In early studies, these treatments, which predominately utilize tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, have induced durable complete regressions in up to 40% of patients with melanoma, Rosenberg says.

In a recent paper published by Rosenberg in the journal 

, patients underwent whole-exome sequencing to identify immunogenic mutations as potential targets for adoptive treatment. Once these tumor-specific mutations were found, patients underwent adoptive transfer of high levels of mutation-targeted tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, which induced antitumor activity and tumor regression. These findings suggest that sporadic mutations within each patient's cancer may represent the "perfect target" for novel adoptive cell therapies, Rosenberg believes.

Utilizing this approach could produce highly specific and sensitive immune-based therapies. Promising early results have been demonstrated in patients with epithelial cancer, suggesting broader application across various solid tumors. Following this initial success, research is being expanded into more common types cancer, Rosenberg says.

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute, discusses the curative potential of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.

Dr. Rosenberg Discusses the Curative Potential of Cancer Immunotherapy

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, chief of surgery, National Cancer Institute, professor of surgery, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, accepts the “Giants of Cancer Care” Award for his work in immunotherapy.

Rosenberg says receiving the award from OncLive is a humbling experience, especially since peers select the recipients of the awards. Rosenberg thanks both his peers and OncLive for the award.

Rosenberg has been the chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute for 40 years. During this time, Rosenberg says, he has concentrated on developing new immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. Rosenberg says this is a field that is now moving very rapidly.

Rosenberg is credited with developing the use of IL-2 and immune cells for the treatment of patients with melanoma in a procedure termed adoptive cell transfer and has shown that expanding immune cells (known as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) in the lab can be used to treat patients with melanoma.

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, chief of surgery, National Cancer Institute, professor of surgery, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, accepts the "Giants of Cancer Care" Award for his work in immunotherapy.

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD

Articles

Dr. Steven Rosenberg on the Curative Potential of Adoptive Cell Therapy

Dr. Rosenberg on Complexity of Online Patient Information From NCI Cancer Center Websites

Dr. Rosenberg Discusses the Curative Potential of Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. Rosenberg Accepts His "Giants of Cancer Care" Award