Chris White

In 2018, Chris White was diagnosed with anorectal mucosal melanoma, a rare and aggressive type of malignant metastatic cancer. After 18 months of standard treatment, he was out of options. Chris’ doctors referred him to a clinical trial for tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). After joining the trial and beginning the process, his baseline scans revealed a brain metastasis and excluded him from continuing the trial until he could treat and prove the brain mass was stable or in reduction. The catch is there was only 10 business days to do so, no exceptions. Upon receiving this information, his doctors told him this was an “impossible timeline to make, but we will try. If he could not reenter the trial, then settling his affairs and hospice is the only thing left.” Well, Chris did do the impossible and made the timeline and was able to resume the trial at the very last moment.  In January of 2020 he spent 12 days in the hospital and received his TIL infusion. Chris is the last clinical trial patient to be dosed in the 1^st ever FDA approved, advanced autologous cell therapy for any solid tumor. Within nine months, his scans were showing a complete metabolic response and his cancer has been eradicated ever since.

In his own words, Chris shares the story of his treatment journey and his road to advanced therapy.

In summer of 2018, I developed what I originally thought was a hemorrhoid followed shortly by a lump in my groin. I went to a doctor to have both checked out, not thinking the two were connected. The lymph node was surgically removed, but the pathology report revealed gut-wrenching news. I was diagnosed with anorectal mucosal melanoma, a type of malignant metastatic cancer.

My oncologist referred me to see a specialist at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. I learned that there is no known cause or standard treatment for this type of cancer. By the time most patients are diagnosed, the cancer has already advanced, and the prognosis is usually grim. Only 14% of patients with my diagnosis make it five years, and once the cancer has metastasized, you are only given 16 months to live.

The average age to receive my diagnosis is 70. I was diagnosed at only 36 and ready to fight for my life.

Doctors initially thought my cancer was localized to the two tumors. They removed the tumor from my rectum along with a groin dissection surgery to remove any more possible lymph nodes that could be carrying the disease. I received targeted radiation for five days following surgery. A PET scan then revealed the cancer had already metastasized to my lungs, liver, kidneys and other lymph nodes.

Over 18 months, I received additional surgeries, immunotherapies, chemotherapies and radiation treatments. The harsh treatments gave me severe colitis in summer 2019 that almost killed me. I was running out of options and needed a miracle.

A good oncologist will tell you everything they have, but a great oncologist will tell you everything they have, everything they don’t have and everything that’s out there. My doctors at MD Anderson referred me to a clinical trial for tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL).

TIL therapy is a type of advanced therapy used to treat patients with unresectable advanced melanoma. Pioneered by Dr. Steven Rosenberg in the 1980’s to fight solid tumors, Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are your body’s own immune cells that can “recognize” tumors. During treatment, TILs are removed from a patient’s tumor to grow more cancer-fighting cells in a laboratory. The “activated” TILS are put back into a patient’s body to fight against and destroy tumors.

While the trial was no longer available at MD Anderson, I qualified for a clinical trial by Iovance Biotherapeutics. The closest trial available was at UCHealth Anschutz in Aurora, Colorado, coincidentally where my grandparents lived. There was probably a one in a million chance, but I thought somebody had to be that one.

In November 2019, I signed my consent to join the phase 2, cohort 4 clinical trial by Iovance Biotherapeutics. I underwent my extraction surgery around Thanksgiving and was scheduled to be admitted to the hospital by mid-December for my lymphodepletion. However, my baseline scans in the beginning of December revealed brain metastasis, which excluded me from participating in the trial.

The trial at UCHealth Anschutz was scheduled to end January 15, 2020, which put me on an extremely tight timeline. To get back in the trial, I had to re-stabilize my brain metastases or show a reduction. With no time to spare, I got insurance approval for radiation and received five doses of target radiation to my right occipital lobe in four days. The last possible day to receive my MRI scan was December 24, 2019, and I had to wait until after the holidays for the results.

On January 3, 2020, my results showed pseudo progression and my brain metastases were stabilized enough for me to enter the trial. On January 8, I went to the hospital and underwent one week of chemotherapy for my lymphodepletion. On January 15, I was given my TIL therapy followed by six doses of IL-2. I was the last person to participate in the trial.

After 12 days in the hospital, I was released on January 20. Six weeks later, my scans showed around a 50-60% reduction of all my tumors. Within nine months, my labs and scans were showing complete metabolic response!

In May 2020, I returned to my job as a new home construction manager. A few years later, I was feeling mentally burnt out from trying to transition back to the version of myself before my diagnosis. My treatments gave me a physical reset, but what I needed now was a mental reset.

In 2023, I started Mucosal Melanoma Survivor LLC to help give hope to patients who face a similar diagnosis to mine. I share my story as a Keynote Inspirational Speaker at conferences and to patients and caregivers around the world and through podcasts and webinars. It took me the first 40 years of my life to realize how I want to spend the rest of my life.

This past spring, I became a self-published author. Killing Cancer with TILS is a journal style autobiographic chronicling my cancer journey from diagnosis until my last treatment.

Advanced therapies saved me, and I am dedicated to bringing awareness to these treatments and helping connect more patients to clinical trials. I became connected with The Emily Whitehead Foundation after connecting with the Blood Centers of America Advanced Therapies and instantly connected with Emily’s story and the Foundation’s mission. I’m a huge advocate for clinical trials as a first option. When clinical trials aren’t offered until after standard treatment, it isn’t a choice. It’s a lack of any other options.

Throughout my cancer journey, I chased around treatments that were so toxic they were killing me. It turns out the entire time the treatment was within me. Treatments are not just about the quantity of life but also the quality of life. With cell therapies, there’s a chance for survivors to have both.

We receive messages from patients and families around the world with experiences similar to Chris. We do whatever we can to be a resource for these families to help them get enrolled in a clinical trial or find a treatment center where they can access CAR T-cell therapy or other advanced therapies.

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