A personalised mRNA-based melanoma vaccine significantly reduces the risk of cancer recurrence or death within two years, new clinical trial results show.

The vaccine, intismeran, is custom-made to target genetic mutations unique to an individual’s melanoma. It is the first individualised cancer vaccine to show positive results in a phase III clinical trial .

The Australian-led trial included 1,137 patients whose melanoma had been surgically removed but were at high risk of it returning.

All were treated with an immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab for twelve months, and some were also given the personalised intismeran vaccine.

The trial found that at two years post treatment, the combination of intismeran and pembrolizumab reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with treatment with pembrolizumab alone.

Prof Georgina Long, medical director at the Melanoma Institute Australia and 2024 Australian of the Year, described the findings as “a foundational shift in our approach to…