A vaccine sewn from your own tumour: melanoma patients stayed cancer-free longer

Helgi Hafsteinn Helgason, an oncologist in Selfoss, Iceland, came home from Europe's biggest cancer congress in Madrid with numbers worth travelling for. In a trial of people whose high-risk melanoma — a serious skin cancer — had been removed by surgery, patients who received a personalised vaccine alongside standard immunotherapy did markedly better: after about two years, 82.2% remained free of disease, against 70% on placebo — a 42% lower risk of the cancer returning. The vaccine, intismeran, is built for each patient from the genetic fingerprint of their own tumour, teaching their immune system exactly what to watch for. It is not approved yet, and longer follow-up must show whether it also lengthens lives — but a vaccine tailored to one person's cancer just moved from idea to evidence.

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