Survivor, Thriver, and Advocate: ATW Speaker Chris White Talks Life-Saving TIL Therapy

Please give me a brief overview of your background and why advanced therapies are so important to you.

My name’s Chris White and I’m a mucosal melanoma survivor, thriver, and advocate. In 2018, when I was 36 years old, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of melanoma, which makes up only 1% of all melanomas and forms in the mucous membranes. It has no known cause or effective standard of care. It was an extremely scary time.

I ended up going through 18 months of every treatment possible, which felt like throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping it sticks.

When all my options were up, I was finally pointed in the direction of TIL [tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes] therapy. I’d seen the name of the therapy on my chart before but didn’t really know anything about it. I’ve heard of CAR-T but since that was for hematologic cancer, it was never an option because I had a solid tumor.  

Tell me about your TIL therapy clinical trial experience.

When I heard about TILs, I looked up the clinical trial, which was  Iovance biopharma startup. There were 57 global locations, half of which were in the US, and I could pick any of them. I lived in Dallas, Texas and the nearest location was Aurora, Colorado, but my grandparents lived down the street from the hospital. So, I signed up and enrolled.

I had my extraction for surgery in November 2019 and then I was clinically declining. I was due to go into the hospital in December 2019 to do my lymphodepletion and my TIL infusion, but on my baseline scans it showed I had brain metastasis. This excluded me from the trial.

And since the trial was a Phase 2, late-stage, cohort 4 trial, I had only about 10 business days or so to treat it, stabilize it, and prove it was in reduction, and I still had to scan to make the washout period. The last day to do that was on Christmas Eve of 2019.

What happened next? Did it all work out?

I barely got insurance approval within about six days, and on the seventh day I did the preparation. I ended up having five sessions of SRS on my occipital lobe in four days because on the fourth day they gave me a double dose. 

I had scans on the next day, which was Christmas Eve, and then I spent the holidays filling out my end-of-life services and my will. I flew out to Colorado and on January 3, they told me that I was stable enough to let me in the trial. I was admitted to the hospital on January 8, 2020.

I did my week of lymphodepletion and then was infused with my TILs until January 15. They said they were doing a press release because I was the very last person to be dosed in the trial. I then got all six doses of IL-2 and was released from the hospital.

On my first follow-up scan six weeks later, it showed a 50 to 60% reduction and then within less than a year, it showed a complete metabolic response. 

How did you get involved with Advanced Therapies Week?

I had gone back to work and was trying to resume as much of life as I could, but by the middle of 2022, I was burnt out mentally and physically. I left my previous career as a new home construction manager and started sharing my story with other patients. It had dawned on me that I could make a living as a professional advocate and speaker. I spent all my time studying my clinical trial, cell therapies, and TIL. I was fascinated with the subject and getting involved where I could. 

A year ago [November 2023], I connected with the Blood Centers of America, and they invited me to speak at their Board of Directors meeting in January 2024. That was a huge launch for what I’m currently doing. It was from following them that I learned about Phacilitate and Advanced Therapies Week. The event happened a week or so after and I remember thinking, I have to get involved. I want to be at this conference.

What are you working on at the moment?

I self published a book about my cancer story in March 2024, and I’ve been continuing to attend other advocacy events and inspirational speaking gigs. 

I started my LLC in 2023, so I’m an independent contract consultant. I try to be a beacon of hope to patients, to let them know that these types of treatments are out there, but also to people working in the industry as proof of concept that what they’re doing is working and is of great benefit. I’m doing everything I can to help accelerate more of these treatments for the patient population. 

What will you be speaking about at Advanced Therapies Week 2025?

Peer connect programs. This was one thing that I remember asking about when I was ill and there just weren’t any on a per treatment basis.  

Toxicity is another important topic. My TIL treatment was the last option for me, so I have a lot of long-term side effects from prior treatment. I just assumed I’d bounce back from the treatment, but so much had changed. Even when you’re receiving a secondary or even a primary treatment, it’s about preserving quality of life along with quantity. I want to talk a lot more about how that comes into play.

Also planning the logistics and understanding what it takes to undergo these types of treatments. Do you know where you or your caregivers are staying? How are you getting there? Have you planned for it financially? Unless you’re near an advanced therapies center or somewhere hosting a trial, you have to think about all these additional factors. That’s why decentralizing clinical trials is such an essential topic.

Why is Advanced Therapies Week so important for the industry and why should people attend?

Things are changing so rapidly within the industry that unless you’re already plugged into a network, it can be difficult to know what’s going on. What’s new on the horizon? What approvals are coming up? Who’s going in for submission? What’s happening in supply chain and logistics?

ATW is like the Super Bowl of cell therapy conferences. It brings everyone together in one place at the same time with a common goal of getting treatments to patients. We can all learn from each other and discuss what we’re working on, and what did and didn’t go well.

Is there anything that you think makes Advanced Therapies Week different from other events in the industry?

I’ve been to a bunch of different cancer conferences; they tend to be general and cover many different treatments and diseases. But Advanced Therapies Week looks at how these treatments improve quality of life, not just quantity, as I mentioned earlier.

I think it’s also the first time ever that Advanced Therapies Week has looked at cell therapies for solid tumors now that the FDA has approved the first cell therapy for this indication.

What are you looking forward to seeing or hearing about at ATW 25?

Patient engagement and patient involvement; the more patients that are able to come, the better. Being able to see in person how these therapies have transformed the lives of patients motivates people behind the scenes to work even harder and to think outside the box.

I found my sense of community by connecting with other patients who have been treated with cell therapies and are long term survivors. Seeing these people, and organizations like the Emily Whitehouse Foundation, at ATW means the world to me.

Advanced Therapies Week 2025 is taking place 20-23 January 2025 at the Kay Bailey Convention Center. If you are interested in attending, take a look at the agenda, speakers, and different types of tickets on offer.