Vaccine plus Keytruda cuts melanoma relapse risk in trial

Moderna and Merck released detailed Phase 3 data on October 22 for their investigational personalized mRNA cancer vaccine. Given with Keytruda, it reduced the risk of melanoma returning or death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone. The trial enrolled people whose tumors had already been surgically removed.

The vaccine is built from mutations in each patient's tumor. It is designed to help the immune system recognize the cancer. The Phase 3 result measures the combination with Keytruda. It does not establish the vaccine's effect on its own.

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Could this become an option after melanoma surgery? Regulators have not approved the vaccine. Overall-survival data are not yet mature, and making a separate treatment for each patient would pose practical and cost challenges.