An mRNA Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promise

Source: Time, June 2024

Moderna says the same mRNA technology that fueled its COVID-19 vaccine is proving effective in fighting melanoma.

The company presented the latest results from its trial involving 157 people with advanced skin cancer at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. In the study, Moderna and Merck combined their cancer treatments—Moderna’s experimental cancer vaccine and Merck’s approved checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—to achieve potentially life-changing results for melanoma patients.

In the phase 2 study of patients with stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma who were treated after surgery to remove the bulk of their tumors, two thirds received a monthly dose of Moderna’s cancer vaccine for nine months, along with pembrolizumab treatments every three weeks for a year. The remaining one third received pembrolizumab alone.
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