Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, accounting for nearly 85% of all cases. In cancer research, a promising treatment is emerging in the form of LN-145 therapy—a groundbreaking approach that harnesses the power of a patient’s own immune system to combat this widespread disease. Understanding the prevalence of NSCLC, its impact, and the potential for cutting-edge treatments become crucial in the search for more effective and personalized cancer care.

Standard treatments for NSCLC often involve a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy with treatment choice depending on various factors. Immunotherapy has also shown significant success in some cases of NSCLC. One type of immunotherapy, under the category of adoptive cell therapy, LN-145 is a relatively novel and innovative approach to cancer treatment. Adoptive cell therapy involves isolating, modifying, and reintroducing a patient’s own immune cells to enhance their ability to target and destroy cancer cells. LN-145 specifically involves the infusion of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) that have been treated and enhanced outside the body. This personalized treatment aims to leverage the patient’s own immune system to fight against the specific characteristics of their cancer. While it is not a traditional or widely established treatment, it is part of the ongoing exploration of advanced therapies in the field of cancer research.

Recently, the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office opened a prospective, open-label, multi-cohort, non-randomized, multicenter phase 2 study evaluating LN-145 in patients with metastatic NSCLC titled, Autologous LN-145 in Patients With Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, sponsored by Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. This clinical trial is designed to study the efficacy of LN-145 on patients with advanced lung cancer. Immune cells (TIL) will be taken from each patient, who will then be treated with LN-145 and then administered IL-2 (interleukin-2), a cytokine to boost the growth and activity of immune cells. This will be done several times for each patient. This trial will inform LN-145 efficacy for patients with safety information for more tailored treatments in the future. The results of this study could improve treatment outcomes and survival rates for patients here and beyond the local area.

Enrollment is open to patients aged 18 to 70 years old with a confirmed histologic diagnosis of NSCLC who have received a single line of systematic therapy that included CPI and chemotherapy with documented radiographic disease progression.

To learn more about this clinical trial, contact the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office at 513-584-7698 or Lung&BrainResearchCoordinators@ucmail.uc.edu to reach our clinical research staff. You can also find the trial on the High Enroll app.