Good news · Health & science · 25 October 2026
Personalised melanoma vaccine cuts recurrence risk in trial
Cancer Research UK announced that a personalised vaccine used with immunotherapy reduced the risk of melanoma returning or death by 42% over two years. The treatment is designed for advanced melanoma that has been surgically removed.
Cancer Research UK presented the first phase 3 trial results for Intismeran, a personalised cancer vaccine intended for patients with advanced melanoma. The announcement highlights that the vaccine is used alongside the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab to treat cancer that has been surgically removed but carries a high risk of returning. Dr Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UK’s director of research, stated: "The science that helped protect us against COVID-19 is now showing promise in treating cancer".
Figures published with the announcement show the combination treatment reduced the risk of death or cancer recurrence by 42% over two years compared to immunotherapy alone. The vaccine works by testing each patient's cancer cells for unique features to generate bespoke mRNA instructions. These results are encouraging for people with melanoma, a cancer that can come back aggressively after surgery, according to Dr Elliott.
Personalised cancer vaccines are not yet common in standard care because they are difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to make. The trial must continue to determine long-term effectiveness and overall survival. Regulators will then need to review the final results, a process that may take several years. Success in melanoma won’t necessarily translate to trials for other cancer types.
The evidence comes from a phase 3 trial involving human participants. The presentation took place at the ESMO conference in 2026. Full results are still to come, and the current data represents an interim finding rather than a final conclusion on overall survival.
Written by StreetOwl from Cancer Research UK, a charity’s own announcement. It was drafted by StreetOwl’s own model, every figure and quotation was checked by code against the announcement, and it was read and approved by Michael Rossi before it went up. It says what was announced, not what anyone should do about it.
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