There’s some hope for cancer patients after Moderna develops a vaccine to reduce the risk of dying from skin cancer with promising preliminary results.
Moderna and Merck are developing a cancer vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which is also used to make some Covid-19 vaccines.
If successful, the vaccine will be used in conjunction with Merck’s drug Keytruda to treat melanoma (skin cancer) in stages three and four.
The study is still in the second phase of clinical trials
The clinical trial included 157 people with stage three or four melanoma.
They underwent surgery to have their tumors removed.
After that, the patients were divided into two groups.One group received both the mRNA vaccine and Keytruda, while the other received only the drug.
According to preliminary findings, combining mRNA technology and Keytruda reduces the risk of death by 44% when compared to taking the drug alone.
The vaccine works by stimulating the immune system to activate killer T-cells in response to specific changes in a skin cancer tumor.
The Merck drug is administered via injection and works by preventing certain cell proteins from attacking the body.
