A vaccine made from a patient's own tumour cut melanoma's return risk by 42%

For someone who has had melanoma removed, the fear is that it comes back. A large Phase 3 trial of a personalised mRNA vaccine — built from the unique mutations in each patient's own tumour and given alongside the immunotherapy Keytruda — found the combination cut the risk of the cancer returning or of death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone. Among more than 1,100 patients, 82.2% who received the combination were still cancer-free after two years, against 70% on immunotherapy alone. The vaccine, intismeran autogene from Moderna and Merck, trains the immune system to recognise and attack that person's cancer cells.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation