‘It’s huge’: Vaccine for melanoma found to reduce recurrence, death by half – GLOBAL
December 14, 2023
A new messenger RNA vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck has been shown to reduce the chance of recurrence or death from melanoma — the most dangerous form of skin cancer — by half after three years when paired with Merck’s antibody medication Keytruda, the companies announced Thursday.
The combination of the treatments cut the risk of recurrence or death by 49 per cent compared with Keytruda alone in the midstage trial, the drugmakers said.
The three-year study involved 157 patients with stage 3 and 4 melanoma, whose tumours were removed before being treated with either the vaccine or drug. The reduction is up from 44 per cent found a year earlier.
“It’s huge,” Melanoma Canada CEO Falyn Katz told Global News of the announcement. “This is a breakthrough.”
Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/10170629/moderna-melanoma-vaccine/
