Crystal Crowley contracted melanoma 11 years ago, but it wasn’t until she arrived at HonorHealth Research Institute that she found freedom from this insidious and difficult-to-treat type of skin cancer.

Crystal has been through the cancer wringer. What started with a mole on the top of her head, eventually spread to her neck, lymph nodes, chest, lungs, lower back, brain and hip bone, decimating this wife and mother of three girls who once prided herself in being in peak physical condition.

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Now, celebrating May as melanoma awareness month, the former Physician’s Assistant at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver, has come full circle, regaining her vibrant health thanks to a new therapy offered by the Research Institute. Known as TIL (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes), this treatment relies on the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.

“This therapy is probably the best option for patients with refractory melanoma, and it offers the potential for long-term disease control with a single treatment,” said Justin Moser, M.D., an associate clinical investigator at the Institute’s Oncology Research Division, who specializes in melanoma. Crystal’s melanoma was considered refractory because it eventually became resistant to the 18 previous cancer therapies she had undergone over more than a decade, including drug therapy, radiation and surgery.

Crystal was one of the few patients in the nation to receive this therapy as part of a clinical trial, and one of the first in Arizona to receive this form of TIL therapy, which was approved by the FDA in February. The Institute was the first in Arizona to offer the treatment under an expanded access protocol and is now the first in Arizona to offer this treatment commercially.

Crystal’s challenging journey

Crystal’s melanoma was almost eliminated once before. As she approached a 5-year mark of having no detectable cancer in July 2020, she felt a new bump on her neck above her left collar bone.

“That was so crushing at that time. We thought that I was cured and would never have to deal with this ever again. That was really very difficult,” she recalled.

Then in March 2022, the cancer showed up in her lungs, an indication of stage 4 disease, Crystal said: “It was very disheartening. I was at one of the lowest places in my life.”

By February 2023, the cancer spread to Crystal’s brain, hip bone, additional lymph nodes in her neck and multiple nodules in her lungs.

“Once you’ve progressed through two or three lines of therapy, in general your melanoma is not considered curable. But we know from the study we did that roughly 30% of patients who receive TIL will have a response,” Dr. Moser explained. “TIL is one of the few therapies that is able to provide long-term disease control for refractory melanoma, and the only one to do so in a single treatment.”

This therapy consists of a melanoma tumor of at least 1.5 cm being surgically removed and sent to a laboratory where it is broken down into individual cells. The TILs are removed and over six weeks are enhanced and multiplied, resulting in billions of energized immune cells, which are then given by IV back to the patient, ready to attack the cancer.

‘Best care I’ve ever received’

In September 2023, after connecting with Dr. Moser, Crystal underwent TIL treatment. She praised the HonorHealth staff for their expertise: “The nurses there were so phenomenal. I’ve been doing this a really long time, and this was the best care I’ve ever received in my life. They were empathetic and caring, and just amazing.”

She received her first post-TIL cancer scan in December and only two tumors remained, one in her upper left chest and the other in her lower back. By March, her scans showed only one weakened tumor remained just below her left clavicle.

“I feel like I have a whole new lease on life because of this. It’s just the greatest gift I’ve ever been given,” said Crystal, now 49, who is back to working out, including weights, and running circles around her children. “The response that I’ve gotten is just beyond our wildest dreams. Getting back to doing the things I love has been phenomenal.”