Experts say the treatment has huge potential and is “one of the most exciting developments in modern cancer therapy”.
The world’s first personalised mRNA cancer jab for melanoma is being tested in British patients.
The “gamechanger” jab also has the potential to stop bladder, lung and kidney cancer.
It’s custom built for each person and tells the body to identify cancer cells and stops the disease returning.
A stage-two trial found it significantly reduced the risk of cancer coming back in melanoma patients and now a final trial has been launched.
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is leading the phase.
Dr Heather Shaw, co-ordinating investigator of the trial, said it was “one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in a really long time”.
“This is a really finely honed tool,” she said.
“To be able to sit there and say to your patients that you’re offering them something that’s effectively like the Fat Duck at Bray versus McDonald’s – it’s that level of cordon bleu that’s coming to them.
“These things are hugely technical and finely generated for the patient. The patients are really excited about them.”
The jab is an individualised neoantigen therapy (INT) and can trigger the immune system to fight the patient’s specific type of cancer.
To create the personalised therapy, a tumour sample is removed and has its DNA sequenced – with artificial intelligence also playing a role.
Dr Shaw said: “This is very much an individualised therapy and it’s far cleverer in some senses than a vaccine.
“It is absolutely custom built for the patient – you couldn’t give this to the next patient in the line because you wouldn’t expect it to work.”
She added: “I think there is a real hope that these will be the gamechangers in immunotherapy.”
The aim is to ultimately cure the cancer and eradicate any rogue cells that might not show on scans.
The phase-two trial found people with high-risk melanomas who got the jab – alongside immunotherapy drug Keytruda – were about half (49%) as likely to die or have their cancer come back after three years than those who just had Keytruda.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/uk-patients-test-gamechanger-bespoke-mrna-jab-for-melanoma-13123074