Personalized cancer vaccines pass first major clinical test
Elie Dolgin • July 12, 2023
Moderna, BioNTech and others hope that personalized cancer vaccines will soon live up to their potential — even as they work out the wrinkles for the best use of their platform technologies.
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.
Paul Mischel is championing the importance of odd rings of DNA in tumors — and their promise as targets for cancer therapy.
Edits create cells that don’t trigger an immune response, allowing implant recipient to forego immune-suppressing drugs.