The skin cancer melanoma is an incredibly deadly cancer if not caught in the early stages. This is why researchers have been studying various types of immunotherapy as a treatment for melanoma - but with inconsistent results (works for some, but not all).
Exciting new research was recently published that found that personalized vaccine plus the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) could be very successful as a melanoma treatment. Using Keytruda alone is current melanoma treatment, but adding the vaccine to Keytruda significantly improved the results.
The researchers found that a personalized vaccine called intismeran, when combined with Keytruda, cut the risk of recurrence and death from melanoma by 49% five years after the original melanoma tumors were removed. The comparison group was patients receiving just Keytruda alone. Key finding: "After five years of follow-up, 68.8% of patients who took the combination therapy remained cancer free while 49.1% of the patients in the pembrolizumab-alone group had no signs of cancer."
The combination treatment also cut the risk of the original cancer metastasizing to distant parts of the body by 59% (this was at the 5 year follow-up). Overall survival for the combination group at the 5 year follow-up was 92.2%, while for Keytruda alone it was 71.3%. Again, a significant difference
Even though this combination treatment was tested on a small group of patients (107 patients), this is a fabulous result! More expanded testing is underway. Stay tuned!
From Medical Xpress: Cancer vaccine sustains 49% melanoma reduction after 5 years
The combination of a vaccine and a drug, which both harness the immune system to attack cancer cells, has proven successful in cutting the risk of skin cancer recurrence and death by 49%, a new study shows. This reduction was calculated five years after patients had their tumors surgically removed and remains unchanged. ...continue reading "Cancer Vaccine For Melanoma Looks Very Promising"