“Extremely impressive”: Melanoma vaccination trial results excite doctors | Cancer

The world’s first personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine cuts patients’ risk of death or disease recurrence by half, according to trial results that doctors have called “extremely impressive.”

Melanoma affects more than 150,000 people per year worldwide, according to 2020 figures from the World Cancer Research Fund International.

Patients who received the vaccine after having stage 3 or 4 melanoma removed had a 49% lower risk of dying or having the disease recur after three years, according to data presented at the largest conference world on cancer. The UK’s NHS is among the organizations testing the vaccine.

The study’s lead investigator, oncologist Professor Georgina Long, said the average risk of recurrence after surgery for the cohort of patients with advanced cancer was 50%.

“While we need to look at the five- and 10-year figures, most of the risk of reoffending in this group occurs in the first two years,” the 2024 Australian of the Year said.

All 157 patients in the phase 2b trial had high-risk melanomas and had either received the vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck, alongside the immunotherapy Keytruda, or had only received Keytruda.

The vaccine and Keytruda reduced the risk of recurrence to 25%, Long said. However, she cautioned that the findings were a “signal” and a larger trial was needed to better assess the true impact.

The 2.5-year recurrence-free survival rate for the vaccine in combination with Keytruda was 74.8%, compared to 55.6% for Keytruda alone, delegates at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting were told (ASCO) in Chicago.

“We are encouraged by the latest results,” said Kyle Holen, Moderna’s head of development, therapeutics and oncology. “These results reinforce our commitment to advancing this innovative treatment. »

Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said the results marked a new milestone in “the exciting and developing landscape of cancer vaccine research”.

“After three years of follow-up, the data suggest that levels of cancer relapse have not increased in people with high-risk, advanced-stage melanoma,” he said. “The results highlight the great potential of therapeutic cancer vaccines used in combination with powerful immunotherapies. »

Known as mRNA-4157 (V940), the vaccine is tailor-made for each patient and instructs their body to kill any remaining cancer cells and prevent the disease from returning.

A tumor sample is collected during the patient’s surgery, followed by DNA sequencing and the use of artificial intelligence. The result is a tailor-made cancer vaccine, specific to the patient’s tumor.

A second trial presented at ASCO, led by the University of Vienna, found that cancer injections can significantly improve the survival of breast cancer patients after surgery.

The study included 400 patients with early-stage breast cancer. Half received a vaccine to boost their immune system before surgery.

After seven years, 81% of vaccinated patients were still alive and free of breast cancer, compared to 65% of those who received standard care.

Lead author Dr Christian Singer said: “This is the first significant and profound long-term survival benefit of a cancer vaccine in breast cancer patients reported to date. . »

Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said the results of the melanoma trial were “extremely impressive”.

“It’s terribly exciting,” Swanton said. “The new vaccine approach is another piece of the puzzle that will hopefully cure more patients or cause fewer patients to experience a relapse of the disease. Ultimately, this will contribute to continued improvement in survival rates over the coming decades and beyond.

Thousands of patients in England are now being referred to groundbreaking trials of personalized cancer vaccines as part of a groundbreaking, world-first NHS ‘matchmaking’ program to save lives.