Geneva hospital to test mRNA vaccine against skin cancer this year

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) – A major hospital in Geneva, Switzerland plans to test an mRNA vaccine against skin cancer melanoma this year after initial results showed a significant decrease in metastases when combined with an anticancer drug.

Professor Olivier Michielin, the head of the oncology department at Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve (HUG), described the test results so far as "extremely impressive," the daily Le Temps reported on Wednesday.

The researcher wants to launch the clinical trial this summer or fall.

"HUG – probably together with three other sites in German-speaking Switzerland – is among the centers that will participate in a phase 3 trial organized worldwide," Professor Michielin told the newspaper.

According to the researchers, the vaccine, when combined with an anticancer drug Keytruda, should allow skin cancer patients to live metastasis-free.

The goal is to offer this combination to patients who are at high risk of recurrence, Professor Michielin said.

Risk of metastases recurrence in organs other than the skin was reduced by 65%, while immunotherapy alone reduced the risk by 40%, he said.

These results showed a significant decrease in relapse when combined with the anticancer drug, he said, adding that the messenger RNA vaccine results were also presented by its manufacturer Moderna at the world's largest 5-day annual cancer congress organized by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and concluded in Chicago on Tuesday.

"We absolutely did not expect to ever see numbers like that," Professor Michielin said, describing the palpable excitement at the congress.

The mRNA technology has revolutionized the field of cancer vaccines because it gives the ability to target many specific mutations, the researcher added.