mRNA vaccine reduced risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% — ScienceAlert

In a global Phase III clinical trial, a personalized mRNA vaccine combined with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with treatment with pembrolizumab alone. The study involved more than 1,100 patients at 157 research sites in different countries, ScienceAlert reports.

The vaccine is created for each tumor

The drug was developed by Moderna and Merck for use after surgery to remove melanoma. First, specialists sequence the patient's tumor and identify its individual differences from healthy cells. Based on these data, they create a vaccine intended to help the immune system recognize and attack tumor cells.

The vaccine is administered in mRNA form and used together with Keytruda (pembrolizumab). Pembrolizumab helps immune cells recognize cancer cells. The personalized vaccine is intended to direct the immune system toward specific features of an individual patient's tumor.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Trial data and next steps

Among participants who remained free of signs of cancer six months after treatment began, the reduction in the risk of melanoma recurrence or death was 58% compared with pembrolizumab without the vaccine. The Phase III results confirmed earlier Phase II trial data published in 2024.

The lead investigator of the international trial, medical oncologist Georgina Long of Melanoma Institute Australia, presented the results at the 2026 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology. They are planned for publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine is not yet available to patients in Australia and the United States, and the trial results have entered the regulatory process.

At the same time, the article notes that randomized studies of mRNA vaccines against colorectal cancer, as well as head and neck cancer, had previously not demonstrated a reduction in the risk of recurrence.