19/11/2025
At Rutgers Cancer Institute and RWJBarnabas Health, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in cancer treatment. In collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, two recent studies led by Christian Hinrichs, MD revealed something extraordinary – patients with advanced HPV-related cancers experienced long-term complete responses following treatment with engineered T cell therapy.
The first study, which evaluated the use of TCR-T cells designed to target the HPV16 E7 oncoprotein, showed remarkable results. Several patients – all of whom had advanced cancers that are generally regarded as incurable – saw substantial tumor shrinkage, and two experienced complete tumor regression that remains ongoing.
In a second study, investigators reported the extraordinary finding that two patients with metastatic cervical cancer remain in complete remission 10 years after receiving a single infusion of TIL therapy.
“These studies indicate that one-time cell therapies can achieve durable responses in epithelial cancers, which historically have been more resistant to these treatments than blood cancers,” said Dr. Hinrichs.
“The decade-long complete responses to TIL therapy give hope that these patients may be cured. The E7 T cell results that include complete responses are encouraging and support continued study of the approach.”
Congratulations to Dr. Hinrichs and his team on this incredible achievement, which is a major step forward for cancer treatment. 🎉
