2024-05-02 12:44:02
What was successful against Corona should now also be used against cancer: the first tumor patients are being treated with mRNA technology.
A 52-year-old Briton recently became one of the first patients to receive the Moderna vaccination against skin cancer. The company (which cooperates with the pharmaceutical company MSD) heralded the third – and final phase – of testing its vaccine against black skin cancer, reports “The Guardian”. Every year, around 325,000 people worldwide receive such a diagnosis; melanoma is considered the most common cause of death from skin cancer (estimated at 57,000 deaths annually).
The mRNA technology on which the vaccination is based is used as a personalized vaccine in skin cancer therapy. Results from phase 2 of the study showed that the drug appears to drastically improve the chances of survival for those affected.
Last year it was tested in combination with an immunotherapy drug (Keytruda) on 157 test subjects. It showed: Compared to patients treated with Keytruda alone, the combination therapy was able to reduce the risk of the cancer returning or the patients dying by 49 percent. In the third phase of clinical testing, 1,100 patients worldwide are expected to take part in the study – including from Germany.
Therapeutic, not preventive vaccination
Important to know: The vaccination now used is not considered a preventive measure, but rather a therapeutic measure. Unlike the corona vaccination, it is directed against the body’s own cancer cells (more precisely against certain markers on them). They are highly individual. This means: The patient must have already had cancer once; the vaccination is then intended to prevent the tumor from recurring (“recurrence”).
A sample of the tissue removed during tumor surgery is analyzed in the laboratory and the individual DNA is determined (“sequenced”). A tailor-made vaccination is then developed that stimulates the immune system to recognize and eliminate the individual cancer cells. This is to prevent the cancer from coming back.
“A finely honed tool”
It is therefore a personalized vaccine in which experts have great hope. Dr. Heather Shaw, who is coordinating the Moderna trial in Britain, told the Guardian: The vaccinations have the potential to cure people with melanoma and are also being tested in other types of cancer, including lung, bladder and kidney cancer.
“This is one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in a long time,” Shaw continued. “It’s a really finely honed tool.” The ultimate goal is to permanently cure patients of their cancer. “I think there is real hope that these will be game changers in immunotherapy,” she said.