In the view of Ryan Sullivan, a cancer immunotherapy researcher and oncologist at Massachusetts Comprehensive Cancer Center, vaccines are the original immunotherapy. However, many other cancer immunotherapies were approved first, including checkpoint inhibitors like Keytruda and genetically engineered immune cell therapies like Yescarta. Overshadowed by the success of other treatments, the field of cancer vaccines “looks like it’s dying,” Sullivan said.
And at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, the late New York University immunologist Jeffrey Weber announced a Phase 2 clinical trial of a personalized cancer vaccine for melanoma developed by Moderna and Merck. Sullivan, who worked on the study, said it “ignited the scene.” The data showed that the vaccine, when combined with Keytruda, significantly reduced the chance of recurrence, marking a turning point for the beleaguered sector.
This, along with subsequent early clinical successes with cancer vaccines, opened the world’s eyes to the potential of cancer vaccines. Personalized vaccines made from mutations specific to an individual patient’s cancer appear to have few side effects on their own. This means they may be given in addition to other treatment programs to increase effectiveness. Broader-based vaccines have shown some promise in promoting CAR-T therapy for solid tumors. Cancer vaccines may also help train the immune system to recognize and kill cancers associated with viruses such as HPV.
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