Personalized vaccine targets melanoma recurrence
A personalized cancer vaccine could help prevent melanoma from returning after surgery. Sutter investigators Dr. Kevin Kim, oncologist and chief of precision medicine at Sutter Health, and Dr. Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, medical director of Sutter CPMC's Cancer Center, led Sutter's participation in the phase 2 KEYNOTE-942 study that helped make possible this advance.
Personalized mRNA vaccine trials show promise in reducing melanoma recurrence or death in patients who have undergone surgery. The phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial, led by Dr. Kevin Kim and Dr. Mohammed Kashani-Sabet from Sutter Health, found that the personalized vaccine combined with pembrolizumab reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death at two years compared with pembrolizumab alone.
The vaccine, which uses mRNA technology to enhance the immune system's ability to recognize and attack cancer cells, is personalized using the unique genetic characteristics of an individual patient's tumor. This approach, described as "precision medicine at its best," brings hope for a new treatment option for patients with high-risk melanoma.
While the vaccine remains investigational and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the progress from early clinical trials to promising phase 3 results is encouraging.
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