Our Science
TIL technology - how it works
TIL – A NATURAL IMMUNE RESPONSE TO CANCER
TILs are immune cells that recognize, attack, and kill cancer cells. TILs recognize cancer cells through tumor antigens expressed on the surface of cancer cells that are unique to each person. When cancer grows and metastasize, TILs lose their ability to perform their intended function. Ineffective TILs give the tumor cells a chance to evade the immune system and grow.
HOW TIL THERAPY WORKS
By strengthening a patient’s own immune response cancer can be attacked and, partial and complete remission can be achieved. Investigational treatments have demonstrated complete and durable remission in a range of solid tumors. A patient’s naturally occurring TILs are collected from a portion of their own tumor and grown outside the body. Combined with pre-regiments, the patient is then treated through infusion of billions of personalized and patient-specific TILs.
Curacell’s treatment process
Curacell’s treatment is an autologous cell therapy based on TILs extracted from the patient’s own cancer tumor. It uses a unique manufacturing process with a proprietary cocktail of TIL stimulators to produce TIL therapy. The cocktail allows TILs to grow faster and to higher numbers than with standard TIL approaches. Curacell’s therapy also involves a unique pre-regimen of patients and combination with other innovative cancer therapies.
The research and development of our TIL technology is managed from our lab facility at Cancer Center Karolinska (CCK) in Solna, Sweden.
Initiating the first clinical program with TILs for breast and prostate cancer
Curacell is now initiating the first clinical trial of TILs targeting both prostate and breast cancer. The trial is developed and designed in collaboration with leading clinical cancer centers and experts in Germany and Sweden. The trial is expected to commence in 2024.
Recently published articles in New England Journal of Medicine (link) have stated the increasing important role of TIL therapy in solid tumor treatment. These promising results were underlined by a publication from one of our scientific advisors, in which a late-stage patient with prostate cancer was cured after TIL treatment ("Karbach J, et al. J Immunother Cancer 2023;11:e005847").