A personalized mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer kept nearly 90% of responding patients alive four to six years after treatment, according to follow-up data from a phase 1 trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of just 13%. The results were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting.
Of the 16 patients who received the individualized vaccine after surgery, 8 showed a strong immune response. Of those 8, 7 were still alive years later. (Among the 8 who did not respond, only 2 survived, with a median survival of 3.4 years.)
The vaccine, called autogene cevumeran, uses mRNA—the same platform used in several COVID vaccines—to instruct the patient’s cells to produce proteins unique to that individual’s tumor. Each vaccine is custom-built: Tumor tissue is genetically sequenced to identify up to 20 mutations most likely to trigger an immune response, and the vaccine is manufactured to target them. The immune system then learns to recognize and attack cancer cells carrying those mutations.
Principal investigator Dr. Vinod Balachandran, MD, said the research began a decade ago with a simple question: Why do a small number of pancreatic cancer patients survive when most do not? The answer was that survivors’ tumors contained neoantigens that “uncloaked” the cancer to the immune system’s T cells. The vaccine is designed to replicate that effect.
A phase 2 trial is now underway at MSK and other sites worldwide. MSK is also building in-house mRNA vaccine-manufacturing capacity to expand access beyond what pharmaceutical company-sponsored trials can provide—a significant step toward making personalized cancer treatments broadly available.
The results are a vivid reminder of mRNA’s potential—a point sharpened by the news, reported separately on April 23, that RFK Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services suppressed a CDC study demonstrating COVID vaccine effectiveness.
