New hope for skin cancer treatment

In August, the pharmaceutical corporations, Moderna and Merck announced that a new vaccine may be effective in preventing the relapse of skin cancer, also known as melanoma.⁽¹⁾ This new vaccine was paired with Keytruda, a drug used to treat melanoma, among other types of cancers. In trials, there were impressive results. For example, according to Science News (article linked below), “Previous trials showed the combination treatment cut the risk of returning cancer or death in half.”  

The vaccine works in a unique way – according to Science News (article linked below), “it trains the immune system to recognize tumors using genetic material from a patient’s own cancer cells, allowing researchers to craft custom treatments,” which is where Keytruda comes in.

The combination is already used for many types of cancers, and shows promise to be able to efficaciously treat skin cancer as well. Skin cancer claims the highest number of lives of all the types of cancers, so if this combination can be fully approved, it has the potential to save many lives.

Though there has been no cure for types of cancers, it is nevertheless an important step in the advancement of treatments. It will also improve scientists’ understanding of how cancer works and the best ways to treat it.

⁽¹⁾ https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-vaccine-melanoma-treatment-mrna

This article was adapted from Science News,’ “A new cancer vaccine may keep melanoma from coming back” by Erin Garcia de Jesús.

Garcia de Jesús, Erin, “A new cancer vaccine may keep melanoma from coming back,” Science News, 25 August 2026, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-vaccine-melanoma-treatment-mrna.