A new messenger RNA vaccine raises hopes against the most prevalent and aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, known as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In the phase 1 clinical trial, it caused an increase in patients' immune response and delayed recurrence in half of cases.
The vaccine, developed in a study published in the journal Nature and led by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, feeds expectations for this approach, against cancer and beyond. It follows in the footsteps of therapy against melanoma (an aggressive skin cancer) developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna.