Personalized cancer vaccines could radically cut death rates from melanoma (skin cancer) and breast cancer, reports The Guardian: “The world’s first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma halves the risk of patients dying or the disease returning, according to trial results that doctors described as ‘extremely impressive.’ Melanoma affects more than 150,000 people a year globally…Patients who received the vaccine after having a stage 3 or 4 melanoma removed had a 49% lower risk of dying or the disease recurring after three years.”
The 2.5-year recurrence-free survival rate for the vaccine in combination with immunotherapy was 74.8%, compared with 55.6% for immunotherapy alone. Known as mRNA-4157 (V940), the vaccine
is custom-built for each patient and tells their body to kill any remaining cancer cells and prevent the disease ever coming back….A sample of tumor is removed during the patient’s surgery, followed by DNA sequencing and the use of artificial intelligence. The result is a custom-built anti-cancer jab specific to the patient’s tumor…
A second trial presented at ASCO, led by the University of Vienna, found cancer [vaccine] jabs can significantly improve survival for breast cancer patients after surgery. The study involved 400 patients with early stage breast cancer. Half were given a vaccine to stimulate their immune system before surgery. After seven years, 81% of patients who had the vaccine were still alive and free of breast cancer, compared with 65% of those who had received standard care.
In other news, a new blood test can detect which bowel cancer patients can receive a lifesaving immunotherapy rather than chemotherapy, enabling them to be cancer free after surgery. Around 10-15% of patients with stage two or three bowel cancer have a particular genetic make-up that enables them to benefit from the life-saving immunotherapy known as pembrolizumab.
Even if these medical advances save countless lives, government regulations may delay them from being used for years. The FDA can take years to approve vaccines, medical tests, and drugs. The FDA didn’t approve a home test for HIV until 24 years after it first received an application. According to an FDA advisory committee, the test held “the potential to prevent the transmission of more than 4,000 new HIV infections in its first year of use alone.” That means thousands of people likely got infected with AIDS as a result of the delay in approving it. At least a hundred thousand people died waiting years for the FDA to approve beta blockers.
Earlier, a blood test was developed that detects many brain cancers that doctors previously couldn’t detect until it is too late to save most victims. The Guardian reported in January that “Surgeons and scientists have developed a world-first blood test for brain cancer that experts say could revolutionize diagnosis, speed up treatment and boost survival rates.” Despite advances in fighting other kinds of cancer, “brain tumors have remained notoriously difficult to diagnose. They affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year, and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 … than any other cancer.” But “now a research team has designed a simple blood test that could help diagnose patients with even the deadliest forms of brain cancer much more quickly, potentially sparing them from invasive and high-risk surgical biopsies….Experts said the inexpensive liquid biopsy could also lead to earlier diagnosis, which in turn would speed up treatment and potentially increase survival rates. The test would be particularly beneficial for patients with ‘inaccessible’ brain tumors, who could benefit from starting treatment as soon as possible.”
Researchers at an Imperial College brain tumor research center “found the test could accurately diagnose a range of brain tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM), the most commonly diagnosed type of high-grade brain tumor in adults, astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas.”
