Personalized cancer vaccines pass first major clinical test

Researchers have long suspected that therapeutic vaccines customized to a patient’s cancer might help raise the immune system to fight off the disease. Phase II data from a randomized trial of Moderna’s personalized vaccine mRNA-4157 now provide evidence that these therapeutics can yield meaningful — if still preliminary — clinical benefit.

The findings, reported earlier this year, have revitalized the cancer vaccine community, inspiring companies to intensify efforts to stimulate the immune system to recognize tumour-specific mutations known as neoantigens or neoepitopes.

Continue reading at Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.