Arabic version: تجربة لقاح الميلانوما تُظهر خفضاً في عودة المرض بنسبة 42 في المئة

According to ABC News, an Australian-led phase 3 trial of a personalised mRNA-based cancer vaccine combined with pembrolizumab immunotherapy reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence by 42 per cent after surgical removal of the disease.

Melanoma Institute Australia medical director and principal investigator Georgina Long called the result “phenomenal” and “absolutely transformational”. The treatment adds intismeran, an investigational vaccine created using genetic information from an individual patient’s tumour, to immunotherapy.

Researchers take a biopsy of the tumour and compare its cells with healthy cells, identifying differences unique to the cancer. The top 34 differences are encoded as a tumour “fingerprint”, or neoantigen, using an mRNA platform. The injection is intended to give the immune system a target.

The trial involved 1,137 patients whose melanoma had been surgically removed, across 157 sites globally. Australian participants were involved through sites including Melanoma Institute Australia, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Westmead Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital. MSD, also known as Merck and Co, and Moderna are jointly developing the therapy.

Professor Long is due to present the findings at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, and the results are set to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Melanoma Institute Australia said regulatory review could take several years, meaning the treatment is not yet available. Experts also stressed that the vaccine is not preventative and that sun protection remains the best way to prevent melanoma.