Skin cancer vaccine begins to be tested on humans | World and Science

Rio – The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) announced that the vaccine that can prevent the recurrence of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, has begun to be tested in humans. One of the first to receive the dose is British musician Steve Young, aged 52, who already had the disease in stage II. The vaccine is produced by Moderna, in collaboration with another pharmaceutical company, MSD.

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“I feel lucky to be part of this clinical trial. Of course, I didn’t feel so lucky when I was diagnosed with skin cancer; in fact, it was a huge shock, but now that I’ve had treatment, I’m looking forward to making sure it doesn’t come back.” occur. This is my best chance to stop cancer,” says Steve.

UCLH says “much of the learning has come from developing Covid research and is now contributing to new treatments for cancer patients.” Results from previous phases indicated a 44% decrease in the occurrence of cancer recurrence or death after surgical removal.

Basically, RNA vaccines teach your body to defend itself against the virus, so that when you are exposed to it, your immune system already knows how to react. Oncologist Heather Shaw, national coordinating investigator for this new trial, says: “The idea behind this immunotherapy is that by stimulating the body to produce these proteins, it can prime the immune system to quickly identify and attack any cancer cells that contain them. , with the aim of preventing melanoma recurrence.”

Rising Rates

Melanoma is characterized by the uncontrolled growth of pigment-producing cells. Rates of this cancer have been rising in recent decades, with nearly 325,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide in 2020, according to UCLH.

In the UK, melanoma is the fifth most common type of cancer, accounting for around 8,400 new cases every year.