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. 2023 Mar 7:14:1090533.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1090533. eCollection 2023.

Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes as an endpoint in cancer vaccine trials

Patrick M McCarthy  1 , Franklin A Valdera  1 , Todd R Smolinsky  1 , Alexandra M Adams  1 , Anne E O'Shea  1 , Katryna K Thomas  1 , Spencer Van Decar  1 , Elizabeth L Carpenter  1 , Ankur Tiwari  2 , John W Myers  3 , Diane F Hale  1 , Timothy J Vreeland  1 , George E Peoples  4 , Alex Stojadinovic  4 , Guy T Clifton  1
Affiliations

Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes as an endpoint in cancer vaccine trials

Patrick M McCarthy et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Checkpoint inhibitors have invigorated cancer immunotherapy research, including cancer vaccination. Classic early phase trial design and endpoints used in developing chemotherapy are not suited for evaluating all forms of cancer treatment. Peripheral T cell response dynamics have demonstrated inconsistency in assessing the efficacy of cancer vaccination. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), reflect the local tumor microenvironment and may prove a superior endpoint in cancer vaccination trials. Cancer vaccines may also promote success in combination immunotherapy treatment of weakly immunogenic tumors. This review explores the impact of TILs as an endpoint for cancer vaccination in multiple malignancies, summarizes the current literature regarding TILs analysis, and discusses the challenges of providing validity and a standardized implementation of this approach.

Keywords: cancer vaccine; checkpoint inhibition; endpoint; immunotherapy; tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL); vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

GP is employed by Orbis Health Solutions and Cancer Insight; is a consultant for Rapamycin Holdings, Heat Biologics, Abexxa Biologics, and Pelican Therapeutics; and has received funding from the above as well as Sellas Life Sciences and Genentech. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure adapted from recent Frontiers publication by Bai et al. demonstrating the cellular composition of the tumor microenvironment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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