Skin cancer vaccine slashes risk of dying from the disease - giving hope to thousands

Skin cancer vaccine slashes risk of dying from the disease - giving hope to thousands Scientists have hailed the development of the melanoma jab as a 'pivotal moment' in the fight against the deadly disease - and said it could soon be applied to other cancers A revolutionary new jab could slash the risk of dying from skin cancer, scientists say. The melanoma vaccine, which can be custom-built for each person in just a few weeks, works by telling the body to hunt down cancer cells and prevent the deadly disease from coming back. It was developed by pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Merck (known as MSD in the United Kingdom). Experts hailed the news as a “pivotal moment for the field of cancer research“ and said it could help extend the lives of people who develop melanoma. It could be available on the NHS as soon as next year, if approved by regulators. British patients were among the first in the world to be enrolled in the latest trial of the jab at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). A stage two trial of the jab found it dramatically reduced the risk of the cancer returning in melanoma patients. Known as mRNA-4157 (V940), the jab is created to target tumour neoantigens, which are markers on the tumour which can potentially be recognised by the immune system. The jab carries coding for up to 34 neoantigens and activates an anti-tumour immune response based on the unique mutations in a patient’s cancer. To create the jab, a sample of tumour is removed during the patient’s surgery, followed by DNA sequencing and the use of artificial intelligence. It creates a personalised anti-cancer jab which is specific to the patient’s tumour. NHS data for England shows that if melanoma - which claims about 2,600 lives a year across the UK - reaches stage 4, only about a quarter of patients survive for five years. Results from the phase three trial of more than 1,000 patients show the jab, in combination with MSD’s immunotherapy Keytruda medicine, resulted in a 49% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death. The results also showed a 59% reduction in the risk of “distant metastasis” - where the cancer has spread to a different organ or tissues away from the original tumour - or death. Experts hailed the results as a breakthrough and said the findings show “proof of principle that personalised cancer vaccines work” and that these could be applied to other cancers, such as lung, bladder and bowel cancer. Dr Lennard Lee, consultant medical oncologist, associate professor and senior national clinical adviser on cancer vaccines at the University of Oxford, said: “These findings are significant. This is the first positive phase three trial of an individualised neoantigen therapy and an mRNA-based cancer treatment. “That makes this an important moment for a field that scientists have been working towards for many years. This was a large phase three randomised trial involving 1,137 patients with surgically removed, high-risk melanoma, and the trial met its primary endpoint. “According to the topline announcement, patients receiving the personalised mRNA cancer vaccine alongside pembrolizumab had a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in recurrence-free survival compared with pembrolizumab alone. "The study also met the important secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival. That is very encouraging. We should now look forward to seeing the complete data.” Stephane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, added: “These phase three findings represent a pivotal moment for the field of cancer research. “For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual patient’s cancer was aspirational. We are now helping turn that vision into a reality.” Shares in Moderna lifted by as much as 155% in the US after the announcement, while MSD shares were around 10% higher on Wednesday