SYDNEY, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Adding a therapeutic cancer vaccine to standard immunotherapy after surgery for high-risk melanoma reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 42 percent, according to an Australian-led international clinical trial.
Proven in melanoma, these results establish a new personalized approach, opening the door for potential new treatments for other cancers, according to a statement released Friday by Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA).
The trial involved 1,137 patients whose melanoma had been surgically removed but who were at very high risk of it returning. The trial compared treatment with intismeran -- a type of personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine -- given with pembrolizumab immunotherapy versus treatment with pembrolizumab alone.
The mRNA-based therapeutic vaccine, based on the unique identity of each patient's tumor, helps the immune system find and kill melanoma cancer cells, so the cancer is less likely to return or to spread to an advanced stage, the statement said.
High-risk melanoma has invaded deeper skin layers or spread to nearby tissue and structures such as lymph nodes, or other areas of the body such as organs, researchers said, adding that melanoma is among the most common cancer in Australians aged 20 to 39.
"Having succeeded in melanoma, this proof of concept could mark the beginning of a foundational shift in how we treat cancer, helping patients remain cancer-free for longer," said Professor Georgina Long, medical director at MIA and chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at The University of Sydney.
The INTerpath-001 phase 3 clinical trial was an international trial across 157 sites around the world. Long was the global Principal Investigator of this international trial and Chair of the Trial Steering Committee.
Results will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). ■
