Maiocco, Giuseppe

Adoptive cellular immunotherapy (ACT) has revolutionized hematologic malignancies, yet translation to solid tumors has historically been limited. This landscape shifted significantly in 2024 with US Food and Drug Administration approvals of lifileucel, a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for advanced melanoma, and afamitresgene autoleucel, an engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy for synovial sarcoma. These approvals mark the clinical arrival of ACT for solid tumors and highlight a rapidly expanding therapeutic landscape. Beyond these indications, multiple ACT platforms including TIL, TCR, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell, CAR-natural killer, and CAR-macrophage therapies are under active clinical investigation across diverse solid tumor indications. Clinical experience to date has defined key barriers to efficacy, including impaired tumor trafficking, antigen heterogeneity, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and limited cellular persistence. In parallel, rapid advances in cellular engineering are reshaping the field, with the development of armored constructs, logic-gated and multiantigen targeting strategies, innate immune–based platforms, and novel manufacturing approaches including allogeneic and in vivo cell engineering. As ACT enters clinical practice for select solid tumors, distinct toxicity profiles and logistical requirements necessitate careful patient selection and multidisciplinary coordination. Early biomarker testing, timely referral to specialized centers, and familiarity with evolving toxicity management frameworks are increasingly critical. Here, we seek to provide a practice-oriented framework for understanding emerging ACT platforms, clinical data, toxicity considerations, and implementation strategies relevant to contemporary solid tumor oncology care.

8019 Background: Neoadjuvant and perioperative chemo-immunotherapy studies report 15%-20% of pts initiating NACT-I do not undergo surgical resection. Methods: Real-world data of pts who initiated NACT-I was collected retrospectively for January 1 st 2022 till September 30 th 2024. Pts and treatment details, reason for not undergoing resection (as assessed by the clinicians) and later treatments and outcomes were recorded. Total number of pts who initiated NACT-I in this period was identified from each center's records. Missing data was not imputed. Results: Data was collected from 10 centers in 4 countries (USA, Israel, Switzerland, France). Out of 330 pts that started NACT-I 43 pts (13%; range 4-33% in different centers) did not undergo surgical resection. Of these 43 pts, 34.9% became unresectable due to disease progression (PD). 20.9% in retrospect were non-resectable and did not regress as expected. 11.6% in retrospect were non-operable. 11.6% suffered toxicity and became unfit for surgery. 7% of pts refused surgery, 14% were not resected for other reasons (Table). Of the non-resected pts, 9.3% died prior to any second-line treatment. As a second line, 44.2% of the non-resected pts were treated with chemo-radiation, 14% with radiation alone, 7% chemotherapy and immunotherapy, 4.7% immunotherapy alone and 2.3% chemotherapy alone. 7% received palliative radiation followed by chemo or immunotherapy, 7% had follow-up alone. Conclusions: The rate of no surgical resection in this real-world multi-national cohort was 13%, in line with the rate in reported studies. Most un-resected pts underwent appropriate staging. Most were male, with high rate of T3/T4. Survival rate at 12 months was 73.7%. The most common causes for no surgery were PD or being upfront unresectable. The patients with the worst outcome were those who experienced PD during NACT-I. N (% out of 43 non-resected) Male (%) Age (median) PET Done prior to any therapy (%) Brain MRI staging (%) Documented MDT decision of NACT-I (%) Documented surgeon evaluation prior to NACT-I decision (%) T3-4 (%) N2a/b (9th V TNM; %) Survival rate at 12 month (95% CI) 43 (100.0) 69.8 71 95.3 95.0* 96.6* 86.2* 69.8 40.5 73.7% (50.5-87.2%) PD 15 (34.9) 80.0 67 93.3 100.0* 100.0* 92.3* 80.0 40.0 68.2% (14.2-89.7%) In retrospect not resectable 9 (20.9) 55.6 69 100.0 100.0 100.0* 50.0* 77.8 33.3 76.2% (33.2-93.5%) In retrospect not operable 5 (11.6) 80.0 71 100.0 60.0 100.0* 33.3* 40.0 20.0 100.0% (100.0-100.0%) Toxicity 5 (11.6) 80.0 72 100.0 100.0 100.0* 100.0* 80.0 80.0 80.0% (20.4-96.9%) Patient refusal 3 (7.0) 0.0 72 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 66.7 33.3 100% (100.0-100.0%) Other ** 6 (14.0) 83.3 75 83.3 100.0* 75.0* 100.0 50.0 40.0* 50.0% (11.1-80.4%) Percentages relate to the total of each row, besides 1st column relating to total of 43. *% of available data. **Death (n=3), intra-operative decision (n=2), additional malignancy (n=1).