Moderna And Merck Nears Successful Skin Cancer Vaccine

CNN recently reported that a cancer vaccine from Merck and Moderna has shown some success in clinical trials. The medicines work by suppressing melanoma (a type of cancer of the skin related to melanocytes). 

The difference between these and traditional chemotherapy is that the injections are more focused. Instead of just blasting everything, killing both the good and bad cells of the body with radiation, these train the immune system to go after the tumor’s cancer cells specifically. 

According to Reuters’ reporting on the subject, unlike traditional cancer surgeries where the recurrence (the rate of returning cancers) can range anywhere from 18.5-40.5%, these new treatments have managed to get that amount of patients down by 49%. This experiment involves more than 1,000 melanoma-afflicted persons. 

“The trial result is [A] monumental leap forward,” said Dr. Julie Gralow, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “…[P]ersonalized cancer vaccines are in the late-stage development for a host of tumor types.”

This means that a cancer vaccine for multiple types of cancers could be in the future sooner than we thought it would be. This is still in the very early stages, the hope is that both companies continue to see success in their endeavors. 

“Merck and Moderna’s treatment, known as intismeran autogene (which is an mRNA-based individualized neoantigen therapy) uses up to nine doses of Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda, infused every six weeks,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge said.

“What we saw in the mid-stage trial, (which is the second phase of experiments. It is about identifying what the side effects, risks, and dosages are when the injections are administered to patients) were ⁠the kinds of reactions people were having when they got a flu or COVID shot,” he added. 

While those are not “fun” it is a far cry from the side effects in chemotherapy, such as “Fatigue, hair loss, vomiting, weight changes.” 

Dr. Elizabeth Buchbinder, a melanoma specialist at the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute had said, “[A] key reason to select melanoma to test with Keytruda was that it is a tumor that produces a lot of mutations, making it easier for the immune system to spot.”

Companies are certainly focusing on the needs of individuals’ medical care. Per the WHO (World Health Organization), millions are suffering from cancer, it may not be an “outbreak,” but a cancer vaccine would change 10,000,000 people’s lives. 

While this isn’t a guaranteed vaccine, it’s an exciting step towards being able to treat and even prevent the scourge of cancer from darkening the lives of those affected by it in the future.