Personalised mRNA vaccine cuts melanoma recurrence risk by 42 per cent
A personalised mRNA vaccine cut melanoma recurrence or death risk by 42 per cent compared with standard immunotherapy alone.
Australian researchers completed an important trial of a personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma. All 1,137 trial participants had surgery to remove their tumours.
Everyone received the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab. Two-thirds also received a vaccine designed for their own cancer cells.
At two years, 82 per cent of those with both treatments were alive and cancer-free. Only 70 per cent of those on pembrolizumab alone reached this outcome.
Researchers analyzed each patient's tumour to find unique mutations. They built a vaccine targeting those specific mutations.
Professor Georgina Long led the trial at the Melanoma Institute Australia. She called this finding a major shift in cancer medicine.
Results will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
- 1,137 participants
- Trial size
- 42 per cent lower recurrence or death
- Risk reduction
Why it mattersThis is the first large trial to clearly show that personalised mRNA technology can reduce cancer recurrence and death. It opens a new era in targeted medicine.
AustraliaAn Australian-led breakthrough in cancer treatment could reshape how melanoma and other cancers are treated globally, and positions Australia's medical research at the forefront of the field.
Corroborated bytheage.com.au·watoday.com.au
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