‘Personalized’ melanoma vaccine offers ‘real hope’

This new vaccine, designed “specifically” for each patient, according to the researchers, strengthens the immune system and makes it able to track down cancer cells.

Hoping to cure skin cancer? In recent days, hundreds of patients in England have received the first personalized mRNA vaccine against melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, The Guardian points out in an article published on Friday 26 April.

Around 330,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed worldwide in 2022 and nearly 60,000 people died from the disease, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Today, surgery remains the main treatment option for most early-stage melanoma. For more advanced stages of cancer, other treatments such as radiation therapy, drugs and chemotherapy are also used.

“I think there is real hope that the vaccine will be a game changer for immunotherapy,” said Dr Heather Shaw, an oncologist and trial coordinator at University College London Hospital (UCLH).

“Individual” vaccine

The vaccine used in the clinical trials is an individualized neoantigen therapy. In other words, it is specifically designed to adapt to the genetic characteristics of each patient’s tumor.

“It’s completely designed for the patient,” said Dr. Heather Shaw in an interview with the Guardian.

After the vaccine is administered, the patient’s immune system recognizes the cancer cells and attacks them. The goal is to prevent the cancer from coming back after the tumor is removed. According to the British Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the treatment is based on mRNA developed by Moderna and Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) laboratories.

How to create a customized vaccine? To personalize treatment, scientists take a sample of the patient’s tumor during surgery. They then use DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to develop personalized therapies specific to each tumor.

“The idea behind this immunotherapy is that by inducing the body to produce these proteins, it can prime the immune system to quickly identify and attack the cancer cells carrying them, with the goal of preventing melanoma from recurring,” explained Dr. Heather Shaw at the National Institutes of Health Research and care

In a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet, a phase 2 clinical trial found a 49% reduction in the risk of relapse or death after three years compared with standard treatment.

Towards global litigation

Among the first patients to take part in this study, 52-year-old Steve Young expressed great enthusiasm. “I am very happy! This is my best chance to stop cancer,” he told the Guardian. Originally from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, the man had melanoma removed from his scalp in August last year.

The global study, which constitutes the third phase of the clinical trial, will now have to include a larger number of patients, i.e. 1,100 people. The UK component, for its part, aims to recruit a minimum of 60-70 patients across eight study sites, specifically in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Leeds.

“This is one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in a very long time,” said Dr. Heather Shaw.

Clinical trials of the vaccine are currently underway at University College London Hospital (UCLH) with support from the UK Clinical Research Network (CRN) and the Vaccine Innovation Program (VIP).