Tailor-made: how the new skin cancer vaccine works

In August 2023, Steve Young, 52, underwent a procedure to remove melanoma from his scalp. Now, he is one of the first patients to test the vaccine against this type of disease. skin cancer.

It is made with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, as are some vaccines against Covid-19. However, it is a personalized vaccine, that is, its composition is changed to suit each individual patient.

The treatment is being tested in late-stage phase 3 trials in the UK and Australia. Therefore, it is not yet available in healthcare systems around the world.

Understand the context

According to Ministry of Health, melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer. This is because it has a high possibility of spreading to neighboring tissues and organs.

In 2020, the world recorded around 325 thousand new cases of melanoma and approximately 57,000 people have died from the disease, according to the WHO (World Health Organization).

Generally, melanoma is treated by surgery to remove the skin abnormality. Now, the idea is that the new vaccine helps in the treatment and prevention of the disease.

A phase 2 clinical trial demonstrated that skin cancer vaccines dramatically reduced the risk of the cancer returning in patients with melanoma. The new study can confirm the results and safety of the treatment.

For now, the side effects of the skin cancer vaccine are mild, like those of flu shots — tiredness and a sore arm.

How the skin cancer vaccine works

Call of mRNA-4157 (V940), the vaccine against skin cancer is the result of joint work between pharmaceutical companies Moderna and MSD (Merck Sharp and Dohme). It is created to assimilate the genetic signature of the patient’s own tumor and then instruct the body to produce antibodies that attack only those cancer cells.

In Young’s case, it should help remove the remaining cells that were not removed surgically. Furthermore, the idea is that the skin cancer vaccine ensures that the disease does not return.

In addition to Young, the clinical trial carried out in the United Kingdom will recruit at least 60 more patients to test the vaccine. As a criterion for participation, participants must have faced melanoma high-risk, which was surgically removed within the last 12 weeks before testing.

In general, some will receive the vaccine, others just a placebo and no one will know what they are getting.

According to the BBC, doctors at University College London Hospitals are administering the vaccine along with other medicines: pembrolizumab or Keytruda. Both help the immune system kill cancer cells.