Feb 16 (Reuters) - Iovance Biotherapeutics said on Friday the U.S. health regulator had granted accelerated approval for its cell therapy for adult patients with advanced melanoma, the first such treatment to be approved for the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The agency's nod is for use of the therapy in patients where the cancer is unable to be removed with surgery or has spread to other parts of the body that previously has been treated with other therapies.

Lifileucel, sold under the brand name, Amtagvi, is a tumor-derived T cell immunotherapy composed of a patient's own T cells, a type of cell that helps the immune system fight cancer. (Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Anil D'Silva)