A vaccine made from your own tumor fights melanoma

A personalized cancer vaccine paired with standard immunotherapy cut the risk of melanoma recurrence and death by 49 percent five years after surgery, according to results presented June 1 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. New York University researchers at the Perlmutter Cancer Center tested the vaccine, intismeran, alongside the drug pembrolizumab in 107 patients whose tumors had been removed. Among those who got the combination, 68.8 percent stayed cancer free, compared with 49.1 percent on pembrolizumab alone. Overall survival reached 92.2 percent in the combination group. The vaccine is built from each patient's own tumor, using mRNA to teach the immune system to spot 34 abnormal proteins unique to their cancer. "Our study offers strong evidence to melanoma patients," said senior investigator Janice Mehnert, a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. A larger phase 3 trial is already running. Side effects were manageable, mostly fatigue and chills.