Experimental Melanoma Vaccine Is the Realization of a Long-Held 'Dream'

A tailored shot at keeping melanoma at bay is looking promising, the New York Times reports. Merck and Moderna say their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, given alongside the immunotherapy drug Keytruda after surgery, cut the risk of cancer returning, or death, by 42% over two years in a trial of 1,137 patients. The experimental treatment also cut the risk of the cancer spreading elsewhere in the body by 38%, Reuters reports. Roughly two-thirds received nine doses of a vaccine customized with up to 34 tumor-specific proteins meant to train the immune system to attack. (The Guardian refers to it as a "bespoke" vaccine.)

An oncology lead at Merck called it the realization of a long-held "dream," and the companies plan to move quickly toward regulatory approval. The trial hasn't yet shown whether patients ultimately live longer, and experts caution that melanoma's responsiveness to immunotherapy may not translate to tougher cancers like pancreatic or brain cancers.