Skin cancer prevention trial at Churchill Hospital under way

Eligible patients are being asked if they wish to join the study at the Churchill Hospital

A clinical trial testing a new cancer immunotherapy that could prevent skin cancer from recurring has opened.

Eligible patients are being asked if they wish to join the study at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, as well as nationally and internationally.

The study's mRNA-based technology is for people who have already had high-risk melanomas removed.

Principal investigator Dr Miranda Payne said she was "delighted" to be able to offer the study to her patients.

She added: "The trial represents an exciting opportunity in an era of increasingly personalised cancer medicine."

The jab, mRNA-4157 (V940), uses the same technology as current Covid vaccines.

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body.

The main cause of melanoma is ultraviolet light, which comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.

Things that increase chances of getting melanoma include age and having pale skin, a large number of moles, and a family history of skin cancer.

There is another type of skin cancer called non-melanoma skin cancer which is more common and usually less serious.

Source: NHS

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the clinical trial was currently in its third phase.

It is evaluating the combination of the cancer vaccine and an immunotherapy treatment known as Keytruda "versus a current standard of care for patients with resected, high-risk, stage 2B to 4 melanoma".

Phase II trial data, published in December, found that people who received the jab were almost half (49%) as likely to die or have their cancer come back after three years than those who were given only the drug.

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