New vaccine could prevent skin cancer from returning

An experimental mRNA vaccine developed by pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck helped prevent the return and spread of cancer in high-risk melanoma patients.

The vaccine, intismeran autogene, is an mRNA-based individualised neoantigen therapy designed specifically for each patient based on the unique set of mutations within their tumour to train and activate the immune system to recognise and fight cancer.

In a phase 3 trial of 1,137 patients with high-risk melanoma who underwent surgery to have their cancer removed, those who received the vaccine alongside the immunotherapy drug Keytruda were less likely to see their cancer recur or spread compared with those who just received Keytruda.

The success of the clinical trial using a personalised cancer vaccine approach opens up a new avenue of treatment which could work against many types of tumours, with additional clinical studies looking at non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

Dr Mark Stares, from the Institute of Genetics and Cancer, ran the trial with several patients at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh - one of the trial sites in the international study.

These initial positive results from the INTerpath-001 study are very exciting. For some patients with melanoma, this personalised cancer vaccine approach may offer an important additional treatment option in the future. More broadly, the findings provide evidence that cancer vaccines can work and give a rationale for further research exploring this approach in other cancers. This was a major international research effort, and it is fantastic that patients and research teams across the UK – including here in Edinburgh – were able to make an important contribution.

More information from the trial will be presented at an upcoming international medical meeting and shared with regulatory authorities.

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