Man receives world’s first melanoma vaccine

health

by alexandra klausner

Trials of the world’s first mRNA cancer vaccine against melanoma are underway in the UK.

Melanoma is the most deadly skin cancer. Approximately 100,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma in 2024. According to the American Cancer Society.

Hundreds of patients are currently testing the vaccine, which is tailored to each person and designed to tell the body to find cancer cells and prevent the disease from coming back. . The vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials, with research being led by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Guardian newspaper reported.

“This is one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in a really long time. This is completely custom-made for the patient. We can’t expect to pass this on to the next patient. It will work. ‘ said UCLH researcher Dr Heather Shaw. he told the BBC.

“It’s really personalized. They’re very technical and meticulously crafted for the patient,” she added.

Stephen Young, 52, from Stevenage, Herts, UK, was one of the first patients to try the vaccine, the BBC reported.

He had a melanoma tumor removed from his scalp last August and is hoping the cancer won’t come back after he gets vaccinated.

“[The trial] It gave me the opportunity to feel like I was actually doing something to fight a potential invisible enemy. “The scan revealed that I was radiologically normal, but obviously there is still a chance that there may be undetected cancer cells floating around,” Young told BBC 4. He spoke on the Radio for Today program.

“So instead of just sitting there and waiting and hoping it doesn’t happen again, I was able to take part in this opportunity to actually put on boxing gloves and take a stand,” he added.

For best results, patients in the international trial must have had their melanoma surgically removed within the past 12 weeks. Some participants receive a placebo injection, but no one knows what they are receiving.

Doctors are giving patients the vaccine in combination with pembrolizumab or Keytruda, drugs that help the immune system kill cancer cells.

A phase 2 trial published in December found that the vaccine significantly reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence in cancer patients. The company plans to recruit 1,100 people for the Phase 3 trial.

The vaccine, called mRNA-4157 (V940), works similarly to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. The vaccine matches the genetic characteristics of the patient’s body. It then instructs the body to produce proteins and antibodies that attack antigens and markers on the patient’s cancer cells.

The jab, made by Moderna, Merck, Sharp and Dome, is not yet available outside of clinical trials.