Could this vaccine cure skin cancer?

A new cancer vaccine has shown a 100% success rate when treating aggressive melanoma in mice.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., And the University of Texas, Dallas, have administered mice with melanoma a cancer immunotherapy drug called anti-PD-L1, which prevents tumor cells from developing. attack their immune system. The study found that rodents that also received Diprovocim, a chemical compound intended to galvanize the immune system, had a 100% survival rate.

And attempts to reintroduce cancerous tumors in these vaccinated mice have failed.

Although additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of the vaccine in humans, researchers are hopeful about their results.

"Just like a vaccine can cause the body to fight off external pathogens, this vaccine causes the immune system to attack the tumor," Dale Boger, Scripps chemist, said in a press release. "This co-therapy has produced a complete response – a curative response – in the treatment of melanoma."

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 9,000 people die from melanoma each year, accounting for about 1% of skin cancer diagnoses in the United States.