© Jeffrey Hamilton-Getty Images People receiving vaccinesA new vaccine against skin cancer may be in development. In a preliminary study published Tuesday, [ignorehotlink=correct]Moderna and [ignorehotlink=correct]Merck announced that combining RNA (mRNA) technology with the cancer immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab has resulted in a vaccine that has been shown to effective life. against melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer.
Moderna's experimental vaccine uses mRNA technology, which is most commonly found in coronavirus vaccines, and Keytruda, Merck's cancer immunotherapy drug, to treat melanoma patients. Patients in the study who received mRNA treatment and Keytruda saw a 44% reduced risk of recurrence or death compared to patients who received Keytruda alone.
"Today's results are very encouraging for the field of cancer treatment. mRNA was transformative for COVID-19 and now, for the first time, we have demonstrated the potential of mRNA to influence the results of a randomized clinical trial in melanoma." Stefan Bansel, CEO of Moderna, told Investigate. "We will be launching additional studies in melanoma and other cancers with the goal of providing patients with truly personalized cancer treatments. We look forward to publishing the full data set and reporting the results at upcoming medical oncology conferences and health authorities.
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. In 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 88,059 new cases and 8,092 people died from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 5-year survival rate for skin cancer is expected to be 60.3% for stage 3 and 16.2% for stage 4.
This randomized Phase 2b study included 157 patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma. Both Moderna and Merck plan to discuss the results of the study with authorities and start a Phase 3 study in melanoma patients in 2023.
"These results are also the first randomized demonstration that a personalized neoantigen approach can be useful in melanoma," said Jeffrey S. Weber, PhD, the study's principal investigator and co-director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langones.
According to the press release, personalized cancer vaccines are designed to "boost the immune system" so that the patient's immune system can mount a personalized response to recognize and fight tumor cells. Based on preliminary clinical studies, the combination treatment of mRNA and Keytruda may also enhance "T-cell-mediated killing of tumor cells."
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
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