A new personalized skin cancer vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck has shown promising results in clinical trials: patients with melanoma who received the vaccine after surgery had fewer recurrences than those treated with immunotherapy alone, according to the website infohub.kz.
The drug, called Intismeran, is created individually for each patient. After tumor removal, a small fragment is taken and its DNA is analyzed. Scientists then identify mutations specific to that tumor and create a personalized mRNA vaccine based on them. It is designed to "teach" the immune system to recognize and attack remaining cancer cells. A similar principle was used in some COVID-19 vaccines.
In the third phase of the clinical trial, more than 1,000 patients with high-risk melanoma (stage II, III, or IV) participated. Participants were divided into groups: some received only Keytruda, while others received a combination of Keytruda and the personalized vaccine. According to preliminary results, the combination of the two drugs significantly increased the time patients remained cancer-free and reduced the risk of the disease spreading to other organs. However, it is not yet known how long this effect lasts.
Scientists are cautious in their assessments. Cancer Research UK stated that the study "shows promising results," but the data still need to be fully reviewed and verified. Oncologist Lennard Lee, a consultant and associate professor at the University of Oxford, called the results good news for melanoma patients. But the results have not yet been peer-reviewed by independent experts, so it is too early to draw definitive conclusions.
Moderna and Merck are also investigating similar personalized vaccines for the treatment of lung, bladder, and kidney cancers.