# T-Cell Therapy Using Interleukin-21-Primed Cytotoxic T-Cell Lymphocytes Combined With Cytotoxic T-Cell Lymphocyte Antigen-4 Blockade Results in Long-Term Cell Persistence and Durable Tumor Regression

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-chapuis-il21-ctl-ipilimumab-jco-2016/  
OnCo record `paper-chapuis-il21-ctl-ipilimumab-jco-2016` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Ten people with stage IV melanoma were given their own MART-1-targeting T cells followed by the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab. Two had lasting complete remissions and the infused cells were still found in the blood months later.

## Summary

Autologous MART-1-specific CTLs were primed with peptide-pulsed dendritic cells in the presence of interleukin-21 and enriched by peptide-MHC multimer-guided sorting, and 10 patients with stage IV melanoma received the cells followed by a standard course of ipilimumab (Journal of Clinical Oncology 2016). The toxicity profile was comparable to ipilimumab alone (Journal of Clinical Oncology 2016).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-05
- Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Year: 2016
- DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2015.65.5142
- Authors: Chapuis AG, Roberts IM, Thompson JA, Margolin KA, Bhatia S, Lee SM, Sloan HL, Lai IP, Farrar EA, Wagener F, Shibuya KC, Cao J, Wolchok JD, Greenberg PD, Yee C.
- Findings: Best responses at 12 weeks: two continuous complete remissions, one partial response by RECIST (two by immune-related response criteria) and three with stable disease.; Infused CTLs persisted at up to 2.9 per cent of CD8+ T cells for as long as patients were monitored, up to 40 weeks.; Patients with complete remission, partial response or stable disease developed responses to non-targeted tumour antigens (epitope spreading).
- What it means: Combining antigen-specific T cells with CTLA-4 blockade was safe in this small study and produced durable responses, supporting checkpoint inhibitors as partners for cell therapy.
- Caveats: Ten patients, single arm; the contribution of the cells and of ipilimumab cannot be separated.

## Sources

- DOI 10.1200/JCO.2015.65.5142: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2015.65.5142
- PubMed 27269940: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27269940/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/)
- drugs: [Ipilimumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/ipilimumab/)
- institutions: [Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/fred-hutch/)
- terms: [Endogenous T-cell therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/endogenous-t-cell-therapy/)
- people: [Cassian Yee](https://onco.cc/people/cassian-yee/)
- journals: [Journal of Clinical Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/jco/)

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