A relevant step in cancer treatment

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Human Genome Project, the map of human DNA that was developed after more than fifteen years of titanic work, involving thousands of scientists from six countries and millions in investments. It is a map that is still being completed today, but it has allowed for a better understanding of the human body and has led to great advances in medicine. Many of the therapies that are now common and save lives have emerged from this map. In fact, the evolution of genetics and computer technology to read immense amounts of data with increasingly powerful AI has enabled advances in medicine that seemed unthinkable. The latest case we learned about this week: two pharmaceutical companies have announced that they have reached satisfactory results in phase 3 ofa vaccine to combat melanoma, one of the deadliest skin cancers.

The announcement by Moderna and Merck (MSD), which caused a rapid rise in the stock prices of both companies, did not provide specific data – they will likely present it at a scientific congress yet to be determined this autumn – but it did specify that in this phase 3 trial – the one prior to requesting marketing authorization – they had achieved a high percentage of relapse-free survival and metastasis-free survival in other organs in patients who had previously undergone complete tumor removal. Despite this ambiguity, which leads experts to temper their optimism while awaiting definitive results, the announcement has generated much expectation, as it represents both a technological and therapeutic advance in the approach to this disease that could be applied to other types of cases in the future.

This vaccine, known as autogene intismeran, is designed from each patient's individual tumor and uses messenger RNA – the same system as the famous COVID vaccines – to stimulate the immune system. Furthermore, it is applied in combination with immunotherapy treatment. These treatments have been the last major revolution in the fight against tumors, and they also offer a more personalized approach to the disease in each patient or type of cancer. According to the results of the initial phases, the combination significantly improves, in some cases by almost 60%, the risk of relapse or death.

In the studies conducted so far with the experimental treatment involving a thousand patients – in which Vall d'Hebron Hospital and Hospital Clínic, among other centers in the State, have participated – the results appear promising. However, experts remain cautious, as overall survival is not yet known with certainty, and the final evaluation by drug regulatory agencies is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, although deadlines have shortened in recent times, it should be remembered that a considerable amount of time always passes between the end of a scientific study and the commercialization of a drug, which in this case experts already warn is not suitable for all cases and, moreover, is expected to be expensive. Be that as it may, it is a breakthrough to celebrate that, furthermore, it demonstrates once again that investment in science – including basic science, which, like genomics, requires great collective effort – is necessary and fundamental for human progress.