A world-first cancer vaccine led by Australian researchers could transform the treatment of melanoma, after the personalised jab passed its biggest test by stopping cancer from returning and spreading.
The late Richard Scolyer and Professor Georgina Long were named Australians of the Year, now her research has delivered a global breakthrough.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian melanoma vaccine passes landmark trial
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“In the new era of oncology and a new era of immunotherapy,” Melanoma Institute Australia’s Professor Alex Menzies said.
The revolutionary treatment works by analysing a patient’s tumour and blood after their melanoma is removed, identifying the cancer’s unique cells.
A vaccine is then made specifically for them, teaching the immune system to find and fight their cancer if it returns.
The vaccine is given alongside the immunotherapy drug Keytruda.
“You reduce that risk of recurrence, which essentially means that patients have a better chance of being disease-free and for longer,” Merck Research President’s Dr Dean Li said.
The vaccine makers’ share price soared after the announcement, with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel calling it “a big moment for medicine, a big moment for patients.”
But it was a bigger moment for Australia.
“We have some of the worst rates in the world, but we also have some of the best researchers,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.
While the mRNA technology was famously used in COVID vaccines, this is the first mRNA cancer treatment to succeed in a phase three trial.
Long will unveil the full results at a conference in Madrid in October, as researchers now test the technology against other cancers.
“A potential breakthrough across the whole of oncology,” Menzies said.
Gary Keblish received the vaccine in 2019, facing a 75 per cent chance of the melanoma returning within five years. He is now cancer-free, happy and healthy.
It’s another chapter in melanoma research that sadly Scolyer didn’t live to see.
