“An experimental mRNA vaccine allowed people with high-risk melanoma to live longer, cancer-free, the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck announced Wednesday.

For decades, cancer vaccines have been one of the most tantalizing ideas in cancer treatment — offering the hope of harnessing a person’s own immune system to attack tumors…

In the late-stage trial of 1,137 people with high-risk melanoma who underwent surgery to have their cancer removed, those who received the personalized cancer vaccine, called intismeran, along with an immunotherapy drug called Keytruda were less likely to see their cancer recur or spread compared with those who received just Keytruda.

Scientists create intismeran by sequencing the patient’s tumor and selecting what are called 'neoantigens,' which teach the immune system how to attack the cancer. They use the fast, flexible mRNA technology to create a vaccine with neoantigens selected for each patient — a process that takes about six weeks.”

From New York Times.