A Didactic Advocate-My Personal Connection to TILs & CGTs
I am the last patient dosed
I remember going through everything I went through I finally making it to the day of my infusion for my TILs, January 15, 2020, also known as day 0 for me. There was more people in the room than normal for this and I was told that, “I am the last patient dosed in this trial and that they are making a press release about it”. I remember thinking, “wow, that’s cool” and then forgot about. It wasn’t until I came across a poster abstract for a conference a few years later and the NCT02360579 looked familiar. That’s when I looked it up and found this.
Seeing my data
When I was in the thick of it, I had no idea of what to expect on what was going to happen. I just lived one day at a time and what I did know was that no matter what happened, my contribution in a clinical trial would ultimately help in saving lives. Seeing this abstract changed everything for me.
I am Forever Grateful for TILs, Clinical Trials, & All Advanced CELL & Gene Therapies
TIL Therapy has been around for nearly 4 decades. Pioneered by Dr. Steven Rosenberg from the NCI in the 1980's, clinical trials for TILs has made its way through multiple organizations, locations, and various sponsors over the years. When I signed my consent to enroll in the Phase 2 Cohort 4 of the C-144-01 trial for Lifileucel sponsored by Iovance Biotherapeutics in late 2019, their iCTC facilities in the Philadelphia Navy Yard were under construction. Because of this, the manufacturing of my cell growth and Quality Analysis had to be done by a alternate qualified organization and that CDMO is WuXi App Tech, Wuxi Advanced Therapies
TILs Support Group-Facebook
I started this group on Facebook in June of 2023. I created it as a source for both patients and caregivers that have either done TIL, currently doing TIL, or about to begin this treatment. There are plenty of support and peer connect groups available for specific cancers or diseases, but none that I could find that were specific to the treatment. Since this type of advanced cell therapy has been various clinical trials for almost 4 decades, I have been able to connect with many patients and caregivers both nationally and internationally as well as patients with other cancers or diseases like breast, cancer, lung, cancer, another solid tumor cancers. When I was going through the treatment, I specifically asked if I could be connected to other patients that I’ve done this before, and there was nothing available. In the past years since I did this treatment, starting this group to share experiences and pay it forward with the sense of community.When I was going through the treatment, I specifically asked if I could be connected to other patients that I’ve done this before, and there was nothing available. In the past years since I did this treatment, starting this group to share experiences and pay it forward with the sense of community.
Advocating for CGTs, Clinical Trials, & RARE Melanomas
I pay it forward by sharing my story & providing easy-to-find resources I wish I would have had
If you are a patient, caregiver, biopharmaceutical or biotherapeutics company, a CDMO, an educational center, or any organization who is involved in one way or another with Cell and Gene Therapies, you are in the right place because I am here to help.
To all the patients out there, I know what it's like to receive a terminal diagnosis with a grim prognosis and searching for a testimony of any hope you can find. I was that person and know the feeling of looking for hope and having it hard to find..
To everyone in the medical, clinical, scientific, manufacturing, or other industry related areas in CGTs, I can only imagine how frustrating it is to pour your heart and soul into your work and measuring the outcomes of the results as data points on a poster abstract. Those data points are people and those people all real lives. We are the lives you save and the results of your work, the Proof of Concepts that what you're doing is working and the way i see it is by putting a face to the name makes everything you do more meaningful. It would be like building an engine but never seeing it run.
It is because of all this I do what I do. I have 1st hand, lived experience testimony that speaks to the power of Autologous Advanced Cell Therapies including direct engagements with multiple different advocacy efforts and methods of reaching your goals. I am the testimony of a RARE survivor and i am the Proof of Concept you never see.
Whether you need a Inspirational Speaker at your company conference, summit, or symposium, an ambassador, or assistance in building your brand through social media, I could be what you're looking for.
As a self-published author, I am available to do book signings along with Q&A sessions with my speeches, open to promotional partnerships and sponsorship opportunities.
You are probably asking yourself, why Chris White, Mucosal Melanoma Survivor, LLC?
Well, I'm glad you asked.....
I AM the last patient dosed in the phase 2, cohort 4 clinical trial for the 1st ever, FDA approved, Advanced Cellular Therapy for any Solid Tumor cancer in history.
You may recognize it as Lifileucel or its commercial name, AMTAGVI. As 1 of the 153 total patients dosed in my trial, I am 1 of the 12 Mucosal Melanoma patients as well as 1 of the 6 from those 12 to have yielded a response. A phenomenal miracle considering I was stage 4 with metastasis to all major organs, my brain, and had failed on every possible treatment that existed at the time.
After receiving my TILs infusion on January 15, 2020, I had all 6 recommended doses of IL-2 and that was the last treatment I ever did. Within 6 weeks I had a 50-60% reduction and within 9 months, my scans showed I had a CMR or Complete Metabolic Response. Even though the approval of this therapy is a 2nd line of treatment for unresectable late-stage melanoma, it's accelerated approval in February 2024 made its mark in history and opened the door for more Biotherapeutics and advanced cellular therapies in solid tumor cancers.
Since 90% of all cancer diagnosis are of solid tumors and current statistic state that 40% of all people will at some point in their lifetime be affected by cancer, knowing that there are options, that preserve quality with quantity is more than half the battle.
What life has taught me is many things but definitely the following.
1. You don't know what you need to know until you need to know it
And
2. You will never know unless you try.
With that all being said, schedule 15 minutes me and let's discuss the impact that I can do for you and your organization.
