‘Breakthrough’ cancer jab cuts risk of dying – or the disease coming back

• A phase three trial has revealed that a personalised mRNA vaccine combined with an immunotherapy drug reduces the risk of melanoma returning or patients dying by 42 per cent, compared to immunotherapy alone.
• The trial involving more than 1,100 patients also showed that the combined treatment lowered the risk of the aggressive skin cancer spreading by 38 per cent over two years.
• Named Intismeran, the vaccine uses cells from a patient's own tumour to train the immune system to identify and target remaining cancer cells after surgery.
• Cancer experts have hailed the findings as a major breakthrough, demonstrating the potential for personalised cancer vaccines tailored to individual genetic fingerprints.
• Drug manufacturers MSD and Moderna are now testing the combined vaccine and immunotherapy approach on other cancers, including lung, kidney and bladder cancer.

IN FULL

World-first personalised cancer vaccine slashes risk of death and disease returning