BTOG 2021 | Cellular therapy in NSCLC

Andrew Furness, BSc (Hons) MBBS, MRCP, PhD, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, gives an overview of the role of cellular therapies in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In particular, Dr Furness talks on the use of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), T-cell receptor therapy (TCR) and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, as well as commenting on the challenges of conducting trials in this field. Dr Furness addresses concerns over the requirement for an operation in order to extract and isolate lymphocytes when administering TIL therapy, as well as highlighting benefits of TILs, the advantages and disadvantages of TCR and CAR-T therapy and potential combinations of cellular therapies with other drugs and forms of treatment, such as oncolytic viruses. Finally, Dr Furness discusses the use of CAR-T therapy in the treatment of mesothelioma. This interview took place during the 19th British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) Annual Conference 2021.