Hope for tens of millions of patients: Has an effective vaccine for the dangerous cancer been found?

Pharmaceutical giant Moderna has announced success in a trial of a personalized vaccine against melanoma, a dangerous skin cancer. The vaccine, developed in partnership with Merck, extended the time without disease recurrence and without metastases among high-risk patients. Moderna's stock value nearly doubled. The companies are also exploring the approach for lung, kidney, and bladder cancer.

Pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced yesterday success in a trial of a personalized vaccine against melanoma, the dangerous skin cancer. The vaccine, developed in partnership with Merck, tailors itself to the genetic characteristics of each patient. The trial involved more than 1,100 high-risk patients whose tumors had already been surgically removed. Some received the personalized vaccine along with an immunotherapy drug called Keytruda, while others received Keytruda alone. According to the companies, the new combination met the trial's main goals: extending the time without disease recurrence and extending the time without distant metastases. Moderna's stock value nearly doubled on Wall Street, where this success is seen as a sign that mRNA technology may also work in cancer treatment, not just in vaccines for infectious diseases. Beyond melanoma, the companies are exploring the same approach for lung, kidney, and bladder cancer. Alongside the enthusiasm, the article notes that full data has not yet been published, the treatment has not yet been approved for use, and questions remain about cost, personalized vaccine production time, and its long-term effects.