Researchers from Rutgers Cancer Institute, New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI) – designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and RWJBarnabas Health, along with colleagues from the National Cancer Institute, a center of the National Institutes of Health, announced findings from two HPV-related studies that highlight the potential of novel T cell therapies to achieve long-lasting remission and complete tumor regression in patients with advanced epithelial cancers. Christian Hinrichs, MD, Co-Director of the Duncan and Nancy MacMillan Cancer Immunology and Metabolism Center of Excellence at Rutgers Cancer Institute and Chief of the Section of Cancer Immunotherapy, led the studies and presented these findings at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting, in National Harbor, Maryland, November 5–9, 2025.
In one study, researchers reported encouraging interim results from a Phase II clinical trial evaluating genetically engineered T cell receptor (TCR)-T cells designed to target the HPV16 E7 oncoprotein (E7 T cells) in patients with metastatic HPV-associated cancers. The treatment consisted of a conditioning regimen, a single infusion of up to 50 billion E7 T cells, and a median of three doses of adjuvant aldesleukin. All 10 patients had advanced cancers that are generally regarded as incurable and for which there are limited treatment options. Five had head and neck cancer, two had cervical cancer, two had anal cancer, and one had esophageal cancer. The treatment was generally well tolerated, with side effects consistent with the preparative regimen and aldesleukin. Six out of 10 patients achieved substantial tumor shrinkage, including two patients who experienced complete tumor regression that remains ongoing at 11 and 12 months, respectively. Both of these patients had previously received immunotherapy and other standard therapeutic options. To read the full story.