A PIONEERING skin cancer vaccine being trialled on the NHS could halve the risk of death or relapse, according to a study.
It is an early boost for the health service’s Cancer Vaccines Launch Pad that was announced last week.
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The infusion was tested on 157 patients after surgery for stage 3 or 4 melanoma skin cancer.
Moderna’s vaccine is the first of its kind to tailor the treatment to each individual patient using Covid jab-style mRNA technology.
Experts led by New York University found it reduced the risk of cancer growing back or the patient dying by 49 per cent compared to standard treatment with the drug pembrolizumab.
After two-and-a-half years, 75 per cent of those who had the vaccine plus the medication were still cancer-free, compared to 56 per cent on just the medication.
Trial chief Dr Jeffrey Weber said it showed a “durable and meaningful long-term survival benefit”.
Speaking at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, Cancer Research UK’s top doctor, Professor Charles Swanton, called the results “extremely impressive”.
He said: “It’s promising and I fully expect and hope that we’ll see data like this in solid tumours like bowel cancer and lung cancer.
“The new vaccine approach is another piece of the puzzle that will hopefully allow more patients to be cured or fewer patients to suffer relapse.
“Ultimately it will contribute to survival rates improving continually over the next decades and more.”
Melanoma is the less common but more deadly form of skin cancer and there are 17,000 cases and 2,400 deaths each year in Britain.
About nine in 10 of the tumours are caused by sun damage to the skin.
The mRNA-4157 injection began UK trials last August when Steve Young, 52, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, received it to stop his tumour growing back after surgery.
NHS chiefs are excited about the potential for cancer vaccines and last week launched a new system to connect patients to pioneering clinical trials.
NHS England’s cancer director, Professor Peter Johnson, said: “We see vaccines as a very important development in the treatment of cancer.”
ANALYSIS: Preparing for the future
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
CANCER vaccines are an exciting prospect because they use the body’s own immune system to fight tumours, reducing the collateral damage to healthy cells which is a risk of surgery, radiotherapy and chemo.
Hopefully this will mean people can be treated for longer without the fear of crippling or even deadly side effects, improving their survival chances.
Research is still in the early stages so the number of patients who can try out the vaccines in the next couple of years is likely to be small.
They will probably also be very expensive, as there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the clinic and lab as every vaccine is tailored to the individual patient.
But the NHS’ Cancer Vaccines Launch Pad will help pharmaceutical companies study and develop the vaccines, set up the NHS infrastructure for if they become routinely used in future – and offer hope for patients along the way.
A second study revealed at the ASCO meeting found another vaccine slashed the risk of relapse in breast cancer survivors.
Scientists at the University of Vienna tested a treatment called tecemotide on 400 women with early breast cancer.
They found that 81 per cent were still alive and cancer-free after seven years, compared to 65 per cent who only had standard chemotherapy.
Dr Heather Shaw, co-ordinating investigator of the trial, previously described the development as “one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in a really long time”.
“These things are hugely technical and finely generated for the patient; the patients are really excited about them,” she added.
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The skin cancer signs you must never ignore
IF you have spotted a lingering mole or mark somewhere on your skin, it would be smart not to dismiss it.
This is especially the case if it looks a bit odd.
Over the past three decades, rates of melanoma skin cancer have more than doubled in the UK, a trend that looks set to continue.
At present, Cancer Research UK estimates that around 16,700 Brits are diagnosed with melanoma on an annual basis, which works out to around 46 cases per day.
The ABCDE rule can be followed to assess the health of a mole. If your mole falls into the following, it’s worth getting checked:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma