From Lab to Life: Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough

Some ten million people die worldwide from cancer annually!  This is why a new cancer vaccine is creating hope for a long-awaited cancer breakthrough!

“A new personalized vaccine given in combination with a drug has stopped skin cancer returning in patients during a trial, representing a potentially watershed moment in cancer treatment.”   The report is by Carolyn Y. Johnson, New York Times, Aug. 19.

“The vaccine, developed by drug companies Merck and Moderna, was given to patients with high-risk melanoma, a type of skin cancer, after they had surgery.   Early results show this new jab extended the length of time these patients were cancer free, but it’s unclear for how long, according to an announcement by the two firms.”

The vaccine is based on pioneering mRNA technology, developed in part by Moderna.  The vaccine, called Intismeran, was given in combination with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug already used in cancer treatment.

How does the vaccine work?  And how could it be used to vaccinate people against cancer in general?

“In order to create this new jab, scientists used mRNA technology – which was used for some Covid-19 vaccines – to target specific mutations within the cancer cells by surgically removing a small part of a patient’s tumor and then sequencing its DNA. The result is a personalised anti-cancer jab which is specific to the patient’s tumour and instructs the immune system to recognise and attack any tumour cells that remain.”   The process identifies ‘neoantigens’ in the tumor, that can kill cancer, and triggers the body’s immune system, just as the mRNA COVID vaccine triggered immune responses to the protein found in the COVID ‘spike’ (that enters cells by pricking it with a spike).

The two companies are testing other similar personalised vaccines for lung, bladder and kidney cancers.

Well done, Merck and Moderna.  mRNA (messenger RNA) sneaks a ‘message’ into cells, often by surrounding it with lipids (fat cells), and enables the immune system to prepare for an ‘attack’,  without having it destroy the trigger itself through immune response.  Much of the basic science comes from the University of Pennsylvania labs.