Study shows personalized mRNA vaccine cuts risk of melanoma recurrence in half after five years

cleveland — melanoma It is the deadliest form of skin cancer. Even after surgery, about half of people still have patient The sobering reality of seeing the disease make a comeback within five years has prompted researchers to look beyond standard treatments.

Now, personalized mRNA vaccines combined with immunotherapies are showing results that may change that.

this experimental modern vaccine It is constructed from genetic material taken directly from the patient’s own tumor. Scientists have discovered that DNA mutations in cancer cells lead to the formation of unique proteins (called neoantigens) on the cell surface. The vaccine trains the immune system’s T cells to recognize and attack these proteins, hunting down any remaining cancer cells after surgery and destroying new cancer cells as they emerge.

Each vaccine targets the 34 most promising neoantigens unique to the patient’s tumor. Once ready (usually four to six weeks after surgery), patients will receive up to nine doses of the vaccine, spaced about three weeks apart, timed to coincide with their immunotherapy.

Dr. Jordan Winter, Chief of Surgical Oncology, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Centersaid the science behind the combination makes sense.

“RNA vaccines are designed to overexpress these abnormal proteins in tumors and allow the body to present these foreign proteins to the immune system,” Winter explains. “The immunotherapy itself brings these immune cells to the tumor. The combination of these two immune strategies works really well.”

In other words, vaccines identify targets, while immunotherapy mobilizes the attack.

In the clinical trial, 157 patients with at least stage 3 melanoma (meaning the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or skin) were divided into two groups. Fifty people underwent standard surgical treatment followed by immunotherapy. The remaining 107 people also received personalized vaccines.

After five years, nearly 70% of patients in the vaccine group remained cancer-free, compared with 49% in the standard treatment group. Adding the vaccine also reduces the risk of the cancer spreading by nearly 60%.

Patients in the vaccine group also reported better quality of life during treatment. The side effects were mild — similar to those of the COVID-19 vaccine, including chills and headache — and lasted only a few days.

Melanoma has long been at the forefront of immunotherapy research, and according to Winter, that’s no accident.

“Melanoma is probably the most immunogenic tumor, which means immunotherapy works better in melanoma than in most other cancer types,” he said. “It’s a part of the skin that’s full of immune cells, so these treatments tend to start at the melanoma site and are effective.”

Whether this approach will be equally effective in other cancers remains an open question, but researchers are actively pursuing it.

“There’s a lot of interest, a lot of hope, a lot of anticipation, and these trials are being conducted across a variety of tumor types, including some of the most aggressive tumors, such as pancreatic cancer,” Winter said.

Researchers at NYU Langone Health, who led the trial, are now analyzing results from a larger Phase 3 study involving 1,000 patients in the United States and Europe. All participants have completed treatment and results are expected soon.

Experts say if larger trials confirm what five years of data suggest, it could fundamentally change the way cancer is treated — not just melanoma, but the entire field of oncology.

A researcher involved in the trial noted: “If successful, this will open up a new field, not only relevant to melanoma but to many other cancers.”

For now, the five-year milestone is important in its own right. Most cancers will come back within this window. Achieving cancer freedom is increasingly viewed as a meaningful marker of long-term survival.

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