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Ryan Sullivan reports promising results for personalized mRNA cancer vaccines in clinical trials

Dr. Ryan Sullivan, Director of Cutaneous Medical Oncology at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, stated that personalized cancer vaccines are showing promising results in clinical trials. These vaccines use mRNA technology, similar to the technology used for COVID-19 vaccines, to train the human immune system to recognize and kill specific cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Research conducted by Moderna and Merck have shown success in directing the immune system to attack tumor-specific mutations. Late-stage studies on melanoma, pancreatic cancer, and brain cancer have demonstrated success in reducing the risk of cancer recurrence and spread. For example, patients with high-risk melanoma who received the vaccine combined with immunotherapy showed less cancer spread and fewer cases of recurrence compared than to those who did not receive the vaccine. While the American Cancer Society estimates 2.1 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year, researchers are reporting that these vaccines may reduce the risk of cancer returning by 50%. Although bringing an mRNA cancer vaccine to the public can take 10 to 15 years, the results from over 120 clinical trials since the early 2000s are providing significant hope for the field of cancer vaccination.

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