Efficacy of TIL therapy in advanced cutaneous melanoma in the current immuno-oncology era: updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Adoptive cell therapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL-ACT) has consistently shown efficacy in advanced melanoma. New results in the field provide now the opportunity to assess overall survival (OS) after TIL-ACT and to examine the effect of prior anti-programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death-ligand 1 [anti-PD-(L)1] therapy on its efficacy. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed up to 29 February 2024. Ιn this meta-analysis we focused on studies including high-dose interleukin 2, doubling the patient numbers from our previous meta-analysis conducted up to December 2018 and using OS as the primary endpoint. Objective response rate (ORR), complete response rate (CRR), and duration of response were secondary endpoints. Findings are synthesized using tables, Kaplan-Meier plots, and forest plots. Pooled estimates for ORR and CRR were derived from fixed or random effects models. RESULTS: A total of 13 high-dose interleukin 2 studies were included in this updated meta-analysis, with OS information available for 617 patients. No difference was found in median OS between studies with prior anti-PD-(L)1 treatment {n = 238; 17.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 13.8-20.5 months]} and without [n = 379; 16.3 months (95% CI 14.2-20.6 months)] (log-rank P = 0.53). ORR was estimated to be 34% (95% CI 16%-52%) and 44% (95% CI 37%-51%), for the studies with and without prior anti-PD-(L)1, respectively. The pooled estimate for CRR was 10% for both groups. No statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups, either for ORR (P = 0.15) or CRR (P = 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: Prior anti-PD-(L)1 treatment has no effect on the clinical response or survival benefit from TIL-ACT in advanced cutaneous melanoma. The benefit of TIL therapy in the second-line setting is also present after anti-PD-(L)1 treatment. Our data reinforce the evidence that TIL-ACT should be considered as a treatment of choice in second line for metastatic melanoma patients failing anti-PD-(L)1 therapy.

Efficacy of cancer vaccines in selected gynaecological breast and ovarian cancers: A 20-year systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic cancer vaccination is an area of interest, even though promising efficacy has not been demonstrated so far. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate vaccines' efficacy on breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) patients. Our search was based on the PubMed electronic database, from 1st January 2000 to 4th February 2020. OBJECTIVE: response rate (ORR) was the primary end-point of interest, while progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and toxicity were secondary end-points. Analysis was performed separately for BC and OC patients. Pooled ORRs were estimated by fixed or random effects models, depending on the detected degree of heterogeneity, for all studies with more than five patients. Subgroup analyses by vaccine type and treatment schema as well as sensitivity analyses, were implemented. RESULTS: Among 315 articles initially identified, 67 were eligible for our meta-analysis (BC: 46, 1698 patients; OC: 32, 426 patients; where both BC/OC in 11). Dendritic-cell and peptide vaccines were found in more studies, 6/10 BC and 10/13 OC studies, respectively. In our primary BC analysis (21 studies; 428 patients), the pooled ORR estimate was 9% (95%CI[5%,13%]). The primary OC analysis (12 studies; 182 patients), yielded pooled ORR estimate of 4% (95%CI[1%,7%]). Similar were the results derived in sensitivity analyses. No statistically significant differences were detected by vaccine type or treatment schema. Median PFS was 2.6 months (95% confidence interval (CI)[1.9,2.9]) and 13.0 months (95%CI[8.5,16.3]) for BC and OC respectively, while corresponding median OS was 24.8 months (95%CI[15.0,46.0]) and 39.0 months (95%CI[31.0,49.0]). In almost all cases, the observed toxicity was only moderate. CONCLUSION: Despite their modest results in terms of ORR, therapeutic vaccines in the last 20 years display relatively long survival rates and low toxicity. Since a plethora of different approaches have been tested, a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is needed in order to further improve vaccine efficacy.