Vaccine breakthrough stops cancer returning in trialA new jab extended the length of time patients were cancer free, but it is unclear for how long.2 hrs agoHealth

Vaccine breakthrough stops cancer returning in trial.

Key points

• After they had surgery, the vaccine, developed by drug firms Merck and Moderna, was given to patients with high-risk melanoma, a type of skin cancer.
• The vaccine, called Intismeran, was given in combination with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug already applied in cancer treatment.
• Stephane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, remarked the findings represent a "pivotal moment" in the field of cancer research.
• Merck and Moderna are calling this a personalised vaccine, meaning it works by targeting an individual patient's tumour.
• The two firms are testing other similar personalised vaccines for lung, bladder and kidney cancers.

In practice, a new personalised vaccine given in combination with a drug has halted skin cancer returning in patients during a trial, representing a potentially watershed moment in cancer treatment.

Early results show this new jab extended the length of time these patients were cancer free, but it's unclear for how long, according to an announcement by the two firms.

Cancer experts say this is a breakthrough, but emphasise caution as the full results have not been published or peer-reviewed whereby independent experts examine and check the trial findings.

And even after the trials process has finished, the treatment would still need to be approved by regulators and then go through another approval process before it was created available on the NHS.

For context, the vaccine, called Intismeran, was given in combination with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug already applied in cancer treatment.

Compared with taking the Keytruda on its own, the firms stated taking the drug and vaccine together significantly rose the time patients remained cancer free and reduced the risk of the disease spreading to other organs.

For context, the phase three trial involved more than 1, 000 patients who had high-risk stage two, three or four melanoma – meaning they ranged from having sizeable tumours in a specific area to cancers which had already spread to other parts of the body.

So as to create this new jab, scientists applied mRNA technology – which was employed for some Covid-19 vaccines – to target specific mutations within the cancer cells by surgically removing a small part of a patient's tumour and then sequencing its DNA.

Notably, the result is a personalised anti-cancer jab which is specific to the patient's tumour and instructs the immune system to recognise and attack any tumour cells that remain.

Meanwhile, the two firms are testing other similar personalised vaccines for lung, bladder and kidney cancers.

Stephane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, remarked the findings represent a "pivotal moment" in the field of cancer research. Shares in both Moderna and Merck have surged since the announcement.

Cancer experts have additionally hailed the news as positive, but are keen to stress the findings are still early.

Dr Talisia Quallo, head of prevention and early detection at Cancer Research UK, remarked the research "shows promise" but stated that the interim data still needs to be fully reviewed.

"It's vital that research like this continues to be funded so that more people with cancer can have personalised treatment options to help them live longer, better lives", she continued.

Dr Lennard Lee, a consultant medical oncologist, and associate professor at the University of Oxford, remarked: "This is certainly good news for patients with melanoma, but the study has much wider implications. It provides proof of principle that personalised cancer vaccines work."

For now, vaccine breakthrough stops cancer returning in trialA new jab extended the length remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.