Moderna's Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough: Melanoma Recurrence Rate Drops

Moderna and Merck & Co have announced a breakthrough in cancer vaccine research with their mRNA-based shot, which has successfully lowered the recurrence rate for melanoma in a final-stage trial.

This is the first time an mRNA-based cancer vaccine has succeeded in a large-scale study, and it has bolstered hopes that such shots could play a broad role in fighting cancer.

The technology uses mRNA to instruct cells to make fragments of mutated proteins produced by cancer cells, prompting the immune system to recognise and target the cancer.

The vaccine is personalised for each patient, with up to 34 mutations included in each shot based on an individual's tumour samples.

While the results are promising, scientists still don't know the magnitude of the benefit or whether people who got the vaccine will live longer. The trial is continuing to gather long-term results.