Moderna has announced the results of a Phase 2b trial investigating its mRNA treatment for skin cancer, and it continues a streak of promising news. When paired with an immunotherapy, the treatment significantly reduced the risks of recurrence, metastasis and death compared to existing treatments alone, paving the way for trials against other cancers.While mRNA research has been in progress for decades, it was greatly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moderna已经宣布了一项2b期临床试验的结果，该试验研究了其mRNA治疗皮肤癌的方法，并继续传来了一系列有希望的消息。当与免疫疗法配对时，与单独使用现有疗法相比，该疗法显着降低了复发，转移和死亡的风险，为针对其他癌症的试验铺平了道路。虽然mRNA研究已经进行了几十年，但新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行大大加速了mRNA的研究。

Buoyed by the success of the vaccines, the companies behind them – Moderna and BioNTech – have been working to apply the technology to other diseases, with cancer a promising early target.Known as mRNA-4157 (V940), Moderna’s melanoma drug is an individualized neoantigen therapy. Essentially, that means the drug is personally designed for each patient, by studying the unique mutational signature of the DNA sequence of their tumors.

在疫苗成功的鼓舞下，它们背后的公司——Moderna和BioNTech——一直在努力将该技术应用于其他疾病，癌症是一个有希望的早期目标。Moderna的黑色素瘤药物被称为mRNA-4157（V940），是一种个体化的新抗原疗法。从本质上讲，这意味着该药物是为每位患者个人设计的，通过研究其肿瘤DNA序列的独特突变特征。

From this, the scientists develop mRNA that codes for a specific cocktail of up to 34 neoantigens that can best target that patient’s cancer, training their body’s immune system to fight it off.The current trial enrolled 157 patients with high-risk stage III/IV melanoma to test the effectiveness of mRNA-4157 (V940).

由此，科学家开发出编码多达34种新抗原的特定混合物的mRNA，这些新抗原可以最好地靶向该患者的癌症，训练其身体的免疫系统来抵抗癌症。目前的试验招募了157名高危III/IV期黑色素瘤患者，以测试mRNA-4157（V940）的有效性。

After their tumors were surgically removed, the patients were split into two groups – one that received a combo of the mRNA drug and KEYTRUDA, an immunotherapy drug from biotech company Merck, while the second group received just KEYTRUDA alone.The trial found that at a median follow-up of three years, patients receiving both drugs had their risk of cancer recurrence or death reduced by 49% compared to those receiving just KEYTRUDA.

手术切除肿瘤后，患者分为两组，一组接受mRNA药物和生物技术公司默克公司的免疫治疗药物KEYTRUDA的联合治疗，另一组仅接受KEYTRUDA治疗。该试验发现，中位随访时间为三年，与仅接受KEYTRUDA的患者相比，接受两种药物的患者的癌症复发或死亡风险降低了49%。

Better yet, the risk of distant metastasis or death was reduced by 62% compared to KEYTRUDA alone.Adverse effects were similar between arms of the stu.

更好的是，与单独使用KEYTRUDA相比，远处转移或死亡的风险降低了62%。stu组之间的不良反应相似。