New mRNA Vaccine Reduces Risk of Melanoma Recurrence by Over 40 Percent

Key points

• Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Moderna have released trial results for a personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma, a serious skin cancer. When combined with the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab, the vaccine reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 42 percent compared with the drug alone.
• The Phase 3 trial involved 1,137 people with high-risk melanoma who had their tumours surgically removed. Georgina Long, medical director of the Australian Melanoma Institute and the study's principal investigator, called the results transformative.
• The companies say the vaccine is not designed to prevent melanoma and remains under investigation before wider use.