{"id":1785748,"date":"2022-12-24T06:30:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T11:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1785748"},"modified":"2022-12-24T09:04:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T14:04:23","slug":"moderna-present-positive-data-for-mrna-cancer-vaccine-safety-concerns-remain-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/moderna-present-positive-data-for-mrna-cancer-vaccine-safety-concerns-remain-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Moderna Present Positive data for mRNA Cancer Vaccine, Safety Concerns Remain: Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmoderna-present-positive-data-for-mrna-cancer-vaccine-safety-concerns-remain-experts%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1785748&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An experimental <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-mrna-vaccine\">mRNA vaccine<\/a> significantly reduced the risk of skin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-cancer\">cancer<\/a> recurrence and death in patients when used in combination with the immunotherapy Keytruda,\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/investors.modernatx.com\/news\/news-details\/2022\/Moderna-and-Merck-Announce-mRNA-4157V940-an-Investigational-Personalized-mRNA-Cancer-Vaccine-in-Combination-with-KEYTRUDAR-pembrolizumab-Met-Primary-Efficacy-Endpoint-in-Phase-2b-KEYNOTE-942-Trial\/default.aspx\">Moderna<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merck.com\/news\/moderna-and-merck-announce-mrna-4157-v940-an-investigational-personalized-mrna-cancer-vaccine-in-combination-with-keytruda-pembrolizumab-met-primary-efficacy-endpoint-in-phase-2b-keynote-94\/\">Merck<\/a> announced this month.<\/p>\n<p>Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cancer\/skin\/statistics\/index.htm\">cancer<\/a> in the U.S., with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-melanoma\">melanoma<\/a> being the most serious type.<\/p>\n<p>The randomized trial included 157 patients with stage III or IV melanoma who had previously undergone surgery, according to data provided by the drug manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>One group of patients was given nine doses of the experimental mRNA vaccine (mRNA-4157\/V940) made by Moderna and the immunotherapy drug Keytruda, made by Merck, every three weeks for about a year. Another group was only given Keytruda.<\/p>\n<p>The mRNA cancer vaccine was used to stimulate an immune response by generating specific T cell responses based on the unique characteristics of a patient\u2019s tumor. Keytruda is a monoclonal antibody that increases the immune system\u2019s ability to detect and fight tumor cells.<\/p>\n<p>They found that the combination of Keytruda and the mRNA vaccine reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 44 percent compared to using Keytruda alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s results are highly encouraging for the field of cancer treatment,\u201d St\u00e9phane Bancel, chief executive officer for Moderna, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/investors.modernatx.com\/news\/news-details\/2022\/Moderna-and-Merck-Announce-mRNA-4157V940-an-Investigational-Personalized-mRNA-Cancer-Vaccine-in-Combination-with-KEYTRUDAR-pembrolizumab-Met-Primary-Efficacy-Endpoint-in-Phase-2b-KEYNOTE-942-Trial\/default.aspx\">press release<\/a>. \u201cmRNA has been transformative for COVID-19, and now, for the first time ever, we have demonstrated the potential for mRNA to have an impact on outcomes in a randomized clinical trial in melanoma.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary results of the phase 2b trial were shared by the companies in the press release. They have not yet been published or peer-reviewed.<\/p>\n<p>Merck and Moderna said a phase 3 study in melanoma patients will start next year, and the companies will look at additional tumor types.<\/p>\n<p>Sanjay Philip Oommen, M.D., hematologist oncologist at Texas Oncology and member of the medical staff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, told The Epoch Times that immunotherapy has been the hallmark of treatment of advanced melanoma to improve survival and prevent recurrence.<\/p>\n<p>Having a vaccine that utilizes mRNA technology is \u201ca tremendous leap forward\u201d for treatment of individuals who have stage III and IV melanoma, he added.<\/p>\n<p>mRNA-based cancer treatment vaccines have been <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/36174631\/\">tested<\/a> in small clinical trials for many years, but previous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7905014\/\">attempts<\/a> have been limited by drug instability, poor ability to stimulate an immune response, and inefficient delivery of genetic material into the body.<\/p>\n<p>Moderna\u2019s mRNA cancer vaccine was used in combination with Keytruda because larger or more advanced tumors proved hard to eradicate using only a vaccine, explained Eric Maroyka, PharmD, BCPS, senior director, Center on Pharmacy Practice Advancement at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).<\/p>\n<p>According to Maroyka, challenges for finding cancer vaccines that work include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Cancer cells suppress the immune system.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Cancer starts from normal, healthy cells and may be hard for the immune system to detect.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">People with cancer have a weakened immune response.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cEspecially the elderly,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>This means they may not be able to produce a strong immune response after receiving a vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>The cancer vaccine technology that Moderna tested was foundational to developing their mRNA COVID vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>A substantial number of trial participants experienced side effects associated with treatment.<\/p>\n<p>During the trial, serious treatment-related adverse events occurred in 14.4 percent of patients receiving both the mRNA vaccine and immunotherapy. Adverse events affected 10 percent of those who received Keytruda alone, the companies said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCancer treatment vaccines can cause side effects, which affect people in different ways,\u201d said Maroyka.<\/p>\n<p>These side effects may depend on how healthy a person is before treatment, the type of cancer, how advanced it is, and the type and dose of treatment vaccine received.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Malone, M.D., cautioned that there could be misleading shorter-term data. Dr. Malone is the original inventor of mRNA vaccination as a technology, DNA vaccination, and multiple non-viral DNA and RNA\/mRNA platform delivery technologies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou really have to watch for longer-term outcomes,\u201d he said, particularly when the vaccines have nanoparticles that possess some \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/health\/scientific_committees\/opinions_layman\/en\/nanotechnologies\/l-3\/6-health-effects-nanoparticles.htm#2p0\">intrinsic toxicity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich is the case here,\u201d Malone said.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the cancer vaccine arena, Malone said he\u2019s watched this \u201ccycle around eight or 10 times now with various supposed breakthroughs\u201d that are often stepping stones but not necessarily the breakthroughs that they\u2019re touted to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I would recommend taking a tone that is cautiously hopeful,\u201d he advised. \u201cMaintain an optimistic, perhaps at times, overly optimistic stance, but avoid buying into marketing hype that Pharma has a tendency towards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In general, the platform technology seems to progress, but there are multiple obstacles to robust, long-term, successful outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a general, gradual, stepwise improvement in cancer vaccine technology,\u201d said Malone. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t seen evidence of an overwhelming breakthrough in melanoma, pancreatic cancer, or glioblastoma multiforme\u2014those are all really challenging targets.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-george-citroner\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/george-citroner-.png\" alt=\"George Citroner\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>George Citroner is a health reporter for The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An experimental mRNA vaccine significantly reduced the risk of skin cancer recurrence and death in patients when used in combination with the immunotherapy Keytruda,\u00a0 Moderna\u00a0and\u00a0Merck announced this month. Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S., with melanoma being the most serious type. The randomized trial included 157 patients with stage III &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1761929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[9369,6962,5458,8047,5241,6441,4521,3952,8027,3994,5234,5790,3819,8390,3954],"class_list":["post-1785748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-for","tag-the","tag-bongino","tag-cancer","tag-concerns","tag-data","tag-experts","tag-moderna","tag-mrna","tag-positive","tag-present","tag-remain","tag-report","tag-safety","tag-vaccine"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1785748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1761929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1785748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1785748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1785748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}