A vaccine made from your own tumour cut the risk of melanoma returning or death by 42%

Each dose is made for one person alone. In a Phase 3 trial of more than 1,100 people who had surgery for high-risk melanoma, a personalised mRNA vaccine called intismeran — built from the unique mutations in each patient's own tumour, and given alongside the immunotherapy Keytruda — reduced the risk of the cancer returning, or of death, by 42% over the first two years, and cut the risk of the disease spreading by 38%. Oncologists quoted by Nature say a 10% reduction would already count as substantial. The results, released ahead of the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Madrid, are the first from a large trial to show this personalised approach can keep melanoma at bay.

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