Personalised mRNA vaccine reduces melanoma recurrence risk in phase 3 trial
publishers 26articles 27first reported 23 Oct, 07:49 UTCdeveloping since 23 Oct · 9 editions
A personalised mRNA cancer vaccine reduced the risk of recurrence or death among patients with high-risk melanoma when added to standard immunotherapy, according to results from a large international phase 3 trial.
The INTerpath-001 trial enrolled 1,137 patients with stage IIB to IV melanoma whose tumours had been completely removed by surgery and who had not previously received cancer drug treatment. Participants received either pembrolizumab alone or pembrolizumab combined with the investigational vaccine, intismeran autogene.
The combination reduced the relative risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with pembrolizumab alone. After two years, 82.2% of patients receiving both treatments remained free from recurrence, versus 70% of those receiving pembrolizumab alone. The combination also reduced the relative risk of distant metastasis or death by 38%.
Intismeran is created for each patient after genetic analysis of a tumour sample identifies abnormal proteins known as neoantigens. The vaccine delivers mRNA instructions associated with selected neoantigens, training T cells to identify and attack cancer cells that may remain after surgery. Pembrolizumab separately blocks the PD-1 immune checkpoint, helping sustain the immune response.
The findings were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2026. Intismeran remains experimental and is not yet available for routine clinical use. The results apply to patients whose high-risk melanoma was surgically removed, not those with active unresectable or metastatic disease.
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Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 16 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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