“In Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is written with two letters, one for danger and one for opportunity,” John said. Kennedy in a speech on April 12, 1959, at the convention of the United Foundation for Negro Colleges.

The global health crisis that erupted in 2020 not only found no prepared state in the world, but also caused more than 6 million deaths, as well as widespread jerks in the economy and social activities.

Three years later, the risk posed by the virus may remain unprecedented, especially for our most vulnerable fellow citizens, but the scientific community is now able to recognize opportunities as well as risks.

Pharmaceutical giants and scientific groups that have mastered the know-how of vaccines against COVID-19started a new “scientific journey” to create a series of new vaccines based on technology mRNA that can fight cancer in general and various types tumors in particular.

The first results of one of them are particularly promising. experimental combination skin cancer vaccine which uses the same technology as Covid-19 vaccines.

“The results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting of our research-based personalized neoantigen therapy (INT) in combination with KEYTRUDA highlight that this combination may prolong the lives of high-risk melanoma patients. There is a large unmet need for treatment in this area as it has been a life-threatening condition where available therapies may not be effective enough for a large proportion of patients,” Moderna CEO said.

But why have these two substances produced such promising results so far?

The goal of a personalized melanoma vaccine is to activate the immune system so that the patient can develop an individualized antitumor response.

Moderna’s vaccine, codenamed mRNA-4157/V940, is designed to stimulate an immune response by creating specific T-cell responses depending on the patient’s tumor. At the same time, Merck’s KEYTRUDA works by increasing the body’s immune system’s ability to identify and fight cancer cells.

Thus, the combination of mRNA-4157/V940 with KEYTRUDA can potentially enhance the destruction of cancer cells mediated by T cells.

In terms of side effects observed in patients from the combination of two substances, they are fatigue (60.6%), pain at the injection site (55.8%) and chills (50.0%).

Dimitris Mougiakakos: “We were helped by cancer research during the pandemic”

Considering new developments in mRNA-based cancer therapy, Professor of Hematology and Oncology and Director of the Department of Hematology and Oncology of the University of Magdeburg Dimitris Mougiakakospoints out that therapeutic (rather than prophylactic, as in infectious diseases) vaccination is one of the first immunotherapeutic strategies against cancer, which has been studied for 50 years.

“Vaccination based on mRNA, as we learned about it during the pandemic, is also emerging from cancer research. In the present study, modern vaccines were combined with so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors. If we use the right proportions, vaccines are targeted and inhibitors unleash the power of the immune system. I think cancer research during the pandemic has done us good,” comments Mr. Mougiakakos.

The professor notes that the data of the current study look promising. “We hope that these data will be confirmed in further studies. In any case, a new era (immunotherapy) has already begun and will continue to bring many positive results in the future,” emphasizes Mr. Mougiakakos, adding that many developments are currently underway in relation to cancer treatments. These certainly include vaccines, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and genetically modified T-lymphocytes, the so-called CAR T-cells.

AI in Cancer Prediction

However, he believes that the fight against cancer is not over yet. “The truth is that we have made a lot of progress in recent years, given that cancer includes more than 100 different diseases and that cancer cells can become very resistant to treatment, escaping “control” from the immune system.

“The underlying mechanisms are very complex and require the work and collaboration of many thousands of scientists. However, I am very optimistic that the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence will allow us to further improve the prognosis for our patients in the near future,” concluded Mr. Mougiakakos in an interview with K.

Alexandros Katoulis: “The increase in the number of diagnoses in Greece”

In any case, the above developments in the field of skin cancer research also apply to our country, since in recent years there has been an increase in the number of melanoma diagnoses.

“In Greece, about 300 patients are diagnosed with melanoma every year. It is true that in recent years there has been an increase in diagnoses, mainly because diagnostic capabilities have improved with the development of technology and awareness of citizens,” the head of state emphasized. Alexandros Katoulisprofessor of dermatology-venereology and director of the 2nd clinic of venereology and skin diseases of the Faculty of Medicine EKPA at the Attikon University General Hospital.

The professor notes that with early diagnosis of melanoma, as a rule, this is a curable disease. However, if it spreads to other parts of the body, it is the most dangerous and aggressive form of skin cancer.

“Of course, changes in our habits, such as intense episodic sun exposure, have played a role in the increase in diagnoses,” concludes Mr. Katoulis, adding that an increase in the diagnosis of melanoma and in young people, as many people working indoors are suddenly exposed to the sun without precautions and time limits.