A real breakthrough in melanoma treatment: a personalized mRNA vaccine trial

Clinical trials of the world’s first personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma recently began. Scientists hope that the new drug can completely change the approach to cancer treatment.

Every year, melanoma affects more than 130 thousand people on the planet. This type of cancer is called the silent killer because it is very aggressive, but in the early stages it develops virtually asymptomatically. Today, the main treatment method is surgical removal of the tumor. Additionally, radiation, targeted and chemotherapy are used.

New melanoma vaccine

The vaccine is prepared individually for each patient. It helps train the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells, thus preventing the disease from recurring.

A phase 2 study showed that use of the vaccine significantly reduced the risk of cancer recurrence in patients with melanoma. The final phase 3 study is currently underway at University College London Hospital, led by the NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Heather Shaw, co-ordinating the study, said the vaccine injections could potentially cure melanoma patients and the drug was currently being tested in other cancers, including lung, bladder and kidney cancer.

How does the cancer vaccine work?

The vaccine, known as mRNA-4157 (V940), targets neoantigens that are present on the surface of a particular patient’s cancer cells. These are tumor markers that the immune system is capable of recognizing, but it does not do so due to the defense mechanisms produced by the tumor.

The vaccine encodes up to 34 neoantigens to activate an antitumor immune response. Because each patient’s tumor has unique mutations, the vaccine is made on an individual basis. During surgery, the doctor takes a sample of the tumor and performs a test called DNA sequencing. It identifies existing mutations in cancer cells. Based on them, a personalized vaccine specific to the patient’s tumor is created.

Heather Shaw explains that the new technique is in many ways a personalized therapy, as it differs from the conventional use of vaccines. The drug mRNA-4157 is manufactured on an individual basis. Each person has their own tumor antigens, and the drug is aimed specifically at them.

“The ultimate goal is to cure patients of cancer forever,” says Dr. Shaw. “I think there is real hope that this new drug will fundamentally change the current approach to treating melanoma.”

How effective is the skin cancer vaccine?

Data from the second phase of the study showed that patients with aggressive melanoma who received the vaccine injection in combination with the treatment with the targeted drug Keytruda were almost half as likely (49%) to die or have the cancer recur as those people who were treated with Keytruda alone.

The phase 3 trial will involve a larger number of people, involving around 1,100 people from hospitals in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Leeds. One of the first patients to take part in the clinical trial is Steve Young (pictured) from Stevenage in Hertfordshire. The man really hopes that the new treatment method will help him overcome cancer.

What other cancer vaccines are there?

Few people know, but vaccine therapy has been used in oncology for quite a long time. Research into drugs that stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells is being actively developed, researched and used in many countries around the world. Some of them are not widely advertised and therefore remain unknown to patients.

An example of such an antitumor vaccine is the drug Cancerax, developed by Ukrainian scientists. It has undergone the necessary clinical trials that have proven its safety and effectiveness. There are currently two types of Cancerax immune preparations: autovaccine and xenovaccine.

The autovaccine, like the melanoma vaccine described above, is prepared individually for each patient based on a tumor sample. It is used in combination with standard methods of antitumor therapy to increase the effectiveness of treatment and prevent relapse of the disease.

If the patient had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor a long time ago or does not have a sample of tumor tissue, it is possible to use the Cancerax xenovaccine. It contains quail tumor-associated antigens, which are structurally similar to tumor proteins that are targets for lymphocytes.

 

After entering the body, immune cells perceive quail antigens as dangerous external agents. After this, they begin to attack cancer cells, on the surface of which tumor antigens similar in structure are located. In this way, the immune system learns to recognize and destroy cancer cells. The xenovaccine Cancerax is used to prevent disease recurrence in patients undergoing cancer treatment. It is also used to prevent the occurrence of a malignant process in people who are at risk of developing cancer.

Cancerax vaccines have shown their effectiveness in treating and preventing the recurrence of a wide range of malignant tumors, such as melanoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, uterine and ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and soft tissue tumors.

Currently, treatment with an antitumor vaccine can be performed in clinics in Spain, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Turkey. The effectiveness of immune therapy with Cancerax is in no way inferior to that of analogues developed in the USA, Great Britain and Japan, and the cost of treatment is much lower.

To learn more about the unique opportunity to treat cancer with the Cancerax antitumor vaccine, fill out the feedback form below or call the phone number listed on the website. Our coordinating doctor will provide all the necessary information and help organize treatment.