Doctors have initiated trials of the world’s first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma in British patients, several news outlets reported. Experts hailed the jab’s “game-changing” potential to offer a permanent cure for cancer.
A phase 2 trial demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of melanoma recurrence in patients who received the vaccines. Subsequently, a phase 3 trial has been launched and is being spearheaded by the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).
Dr. Heather Shaw, the national coordinating investigator for the trial, emphasized that these vaccines could potentially cure individuals with melanoma and are also being evaluated for other types of cancers such as lung, bladder, and kidney cancers.
This vaccine, known as mRNA-4157 (V940), is a personalized neoantigen therapy designed to activate the immune system to specifically target and combat a patient’s unique malignant cells.
By targeting tumor neoantigens, which are essentially specific markers expressed by tumors in individual patients, the vaccine aims to stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack the cancer cells.
Melanoma, which affects approximately 132,000 individuals globally each year, is the most deadly form of skin cancer. While current treatment primarily involves surgery, other approaches–such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and the use of medications–are also utilized on a case-by-case basis.