Risk-reducing treatment study for melanoma opens in Oxford

An international clinical trial testing a novel cancer immunotherapy which may prevent skin cancer from recurring has opened in Oxford.

Eligible patients are being asked if they wish to join the V940-001 study at the Churchill Hospital, as well as across the UK and overseas.

The mRNA-based technology in this study, is aimed at people who have already had high-risk melanomas removed.

The new Phase 3 clinical trial is evaluating the combination of mRNA-4157 (V940) cancer vaccine and immunotherapy treatment Keytruda (pembrolizumab) versus a current standard of care (pembrolizumab) for patients with resected, high-risk, stage 2B to 4 melanoma.

It follows a successful Phase 2 study which found that in patients with stage 3B to 4 resected melanoma, this treatment option almost halved the risk of cancer recurrence or death after three years compared with treatment with Keytruda alone.

Dr Miranda Payne, the Principal Investigator in Oxford, said: "I am delighted to be able to offer this study to my patients. The trial represents an exciting opportunity in an era of increasingly personalised cancer medicine."

More information at the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website:

First patients getting individualised risk-reducing therapy for melanoma