A cancer vaccine made just for you. mRNA is back and it's fighting melanoma
4 hours ago
- #mRNA vaccine
- #melanoma treatment
- #personalized medicine
- An mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccine, combined with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda, shows promising results in preventing melanoma recurrence.
- In a clinical trial, 68.8% of patients receiving the combination therapy remained cancer-free after five years, compared to 49.1% with Keytruda alone, reducing recurrence risk by 49%.
- The five-year survival rate was 92% for the combination group versus 71% for Keytruda alone, indicating a significant improvement in outcomes for high-risk melanoma patients.
- The vaccine is tailored to each patient's tumor by sequencing it to identify up to 34 unique neoantigens, training the immune system to specifically target the cancer.
- Side effects were mild, such as chills and minor injection site pain, and the approach is being studied for other cancers like lung cancer.
- A Phase 3 trial with nearly 1,000 patients is underway, with plans to seek FDA approval based on the results, potentially marking a landmark advance in cancer treatment.