Melanoma or cancer of the skin is easily the most contracted cancer in the United States. The most common causes are extreme or frequent exposure to the sun’s UV rays or having big moles that metastasize. As such, melanoma is usually treatable when caught early. However, there are extreme cases that can be life-threatening as well.
According to reports, around 1.3 million Americans are diagnosed with melanoma right now. Furthermore, scientists expect to have melanoma as the second most common cancer by 2040.
Because it is a treatable form of cancer, research into treatments for melanoma has advanced drastically over the years. Now, a new vaccine being tested has promising results.
A vaccine works by orienting the immune cells in the body to recognize potential threats and create a defense plan against them. So how would it work on a type of cancer?
The research on “Breakthrough Therapy” done by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the vaccine involves individuals who previously had melanoma. Because skin cancer can reoccur even after initial remission, the researchers combine immunotherapy and the vaccine.
The drug Pembrolizumab was used in the testing and the results are very promising. Out of 107 patients who have had melanoma before, only 22.4 percent or 24 patients have had the skin cancer reemerge within two years with the combination treatment. However, 20 out of 50 patients had melanoma recurrence with the Pembrolizumab treatment.
The combination of the vaccine and Pembrolizumab works by letting the body’s T-cells recognize and attack tumors or forms of skin cancer. This triggers an immune response that makes the T-cells attack the melanoma but not other healthy cells.
Like other forms of cancer, the body usually doesn’t recognize melanoma cells as hazardous because they are simply metastasized regular cells. However, with the combination treatment, the Pembrolizumab drug exposes skin cancer and lets the body identify it differently to trigger an immune response against it.
Concerns about possible side effects of the vaccine were also taken into account. Based on the results, the symptoms reported by the patients were more or less the same, with fatigue eyed as the different conditions experienced by the vaccinated individuals. The vaccine took effect in around six to eight weeks and the patients were able to create an immune response in that time period.
The research has just concluded its phase 2 experimentation and is about to go into phase 3. The initial findings were presented to the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando and the next stage of the study is set to take off globally.
If this vaccine proves successful, melanoma will be the first form of cancer that is wholly treatable and preventable. This is truly a breakthrough in the medical community.