New TIL Therapy Brings Breakthrough Hope for Advanced Melanoma Patients in Oklahoma at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center

Imagine being told no more options exist in your fight against cancer. For many Oklahomans with advanced melanoma, treatment options were limited — until now.

OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center is bringing new hope to patients and families as the first and only center in Oklahoma to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, an advanced new treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer when other therapies have failed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved TIL therapy in 2024 for melanoma patients who have not responded to other treatments. Only major university hospitals and cancer centers across the country are equipped to offer this treatment.

“This is about giving people a second chance at life,” said hematologist-oncologist Dr. Taha Al-Juhaishi, M.D., associate chief medical officer for cancer services at OU Health and assistant professor in the Section of Hematology-Oncology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. “We’re committed to making the most advanced therapies available right here in Oklahoma, so patients don’t have to leave home to get the care they deserve.”

TIL therapy is more than a medical breakthrough. By harnessing and multiplying the body’s own cancer-fighting cells, this treatment offers a powerful new weapon against melanoma, with the potential to change lives and outcomes for years to come.

TIL therapy works by removing a tumor from the patient's body and collecting the immune cells found inside it. These immune cells, called lymphocytes, are already fighting the cancer. Scientists then grow millions more of these cells in a lab and put them back into the patient's body, where they can attack the cancer with much greater strength.

"We are aggressive about bringing new technologies here and developing the expertise to make it an option for patients in Oklahoma," Dr. Al-Juhaishi.

For patients with advanced melanoma who have tried other treatments without success, TIL therapy can mean the difference between life and death. Before this treatment became available, many patients had no other options.

"This is a life-or-death situation for these patients," Dr. Al-Juhaishi said. "When it works, it's thought to be curative. We have data showing patients 10, 15, even 20 years out from treatment who are still in remission."

The treatment is complex and requires many specialized teams working together, including surgical oncologists Dr. Ajay Jain, M.D., chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at OU College of Medicine, and core medical director for the Stephenson Cancer Center; and head and neck oncologic surgeon Dr. Greg Krempl, M.D., FACS, professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at OU College of Medicine.

The oncologists remove the tumor and send it to a specialized lab. Once the immune cells are grown and shipped back, the patient receives chemotherapy to prepare their body. Then the new cells are put back into the patient along with a medication that helps the cells work better.

Stephenson Cancer Center has performed TIL therapy in clinical trials for roughly two years, giving the team valuable experience before offering the treatment commercially. OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center medical oncologist Dr. Abdul Rafeh Naqash, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at OU College of Medicine and senior associate director for AI and data science at Stephenson Cancer Center leads the melanoma clinic alongside hematologist-oncologist Dr. Vishnu Nagalapuram, M.D., and both work closely with the cell therapy team to identify patients who might benefit from this treatment.

"When a complex treatment gets FDA approval, we are the ones who will have it first and can do it," Dr. Al-Juhaishi said. "We take these risks as an institution that nobody else is willing to take, not because we are reckless, but because this is what we do to give our patients the best possible outcomes."

“We don't claim 100 percent success, but we will take a shot at success for the benefit of our patients,” said Dr. Al-Juhaishi.

Patients with advanced melanoma who are interested in learning more about TIL therapy should talk to their doctor about a referral or second opinion at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center by calling (855) 750-2273.