New Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Melanoma
Source: CureToday, July 2024
A new cancer vaccine targeting melanoma, currently the subject of a phase 2 trial, has shown “promising” results, as one researcher tells CURE®.
Patients with stages 3 and 4 melanoma are enrolling in the trial, spearheaded by lead investigator Dr. James Smithy of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, to receive the combination peptide vaccine IO102-IO103 plus the immunotherapy Opdualag, a combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) and relatlimab-rmbw.
Smithy told CURE® in an interview that approximately 21patients had been recruited to date, with researchers hoping to reach a full cohort of 43 participants soon. A prior phase 1/2 trial in Europe, findings of which were published in Nature Medicine, resulted in an 80% objective response rate (patients whose disease responded partially or completely to treatment), and Smithy said researchers planned to release the first data from the American trial, MSK-098, in mid-2025.