Pharmaceutical group Moderna has reported "top-line" results from their cancer vaccine, especially for malanoma.

Results from a new cancer vaccine have been released, showing incredible results for melanoma patients, especially when looking at recurrence figures.

Professor Luke O'Neill from Trinity College Dublin was on hand to explain what these results mean, and what they could mean for other types of cancers.

He shared on The Pat Kenny Show: "Moderna, who you may remember from the pandemic days, announced top-line results from their RNA vaccine, their vaccine for melanoma, and it's really working.

"The big effect was it stops recurrence. So often you get cancer and it might come back. The vaccine stops it coming back. This may be a way to stop cancer recurring and not just melanoma, but they're talking about other types of cancer as well. So it's seen as a real advance."

What makes the vaccine even more interesting is the fact that it's almost a personalised vaccine rather than a generic one. The vaccine is going after the patient's specific mutations, targeting their tumour as opposed to someone else's.

Mr O'Neill suspects this could be why the Moderna cancer vaccine has been so successful, as it's "very much personalised".

"It's a hugely elaborate process," he continued. "You go to the hospital, they take a tumour sample, they sequence the DNA, they figure out the bits that are wrong, and then they make an RNA vaccine based on that.

"So it's a multi-step process, but the fact that it's working so well must mean that this will become commonly used down the line. But the price will be the next question, of course, and they'll be able to afford it."

Patients actually have COVID to thank in part for the development of the vaccine, as Moderna are reportedly using the exact same RNA technology that was used to fight the virus.

Main image: cancer research Picture by: Alamy Stock Photo