Melanoma vaccine combo shows promise in delaying relapse.

Moderna and Merck have reported that their investigational mRNA cancer vaccine, mRNA-4157/V940, when combined with immunotherapy Keytruda, reduced the risk of recurrence of melanoma in a trial of 157 people who had surgery to treat melanoma. No serious side effects were reported, and the companies plan to launch a Phase 3 study in 2023 and expand to more types of tumors, including lung cancer. Melanoma accounts for about 1% of all skin cancers, but it causes a majority of skin cancer deaths.