Divergent results from cancer vaccine trials pose tough questions for the field

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The recent success of a late-stage mRNA cancer vaccine, showing that the drug stopped the return of melanoma, has boosted hopes that this approach can be successfully leveraged to tackle other cancers.

The question now is which ones – and whether mRNA is up to the task.

Merck and Moderna reported in August that adding their mRNA cancer vaccine to an existing treatment slowed the return and spread of melanoma. The industry has been “eagerly” awaiting news about the drug, called intismeran autogene, said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the research organization founded by technology entrepreneur Sean Parker. The results suggest that the idea of ​​using messenger RNA to train the immune system to attack cancer cells – an approach first conceived decades ago – was ripe for further drug development.