Many of us are familiar with mRNA vaccines for their use in the fight against COVID-19.
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But the technology's ability to treat a number of other conditions, including cancer, could be on the horizon.
In February 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration granted mRNA skin cancer vaccines a breakthrough therapy designation. That essentially fast tracks the development of important treatments.
A December 2022 trial by Moderna found mRNA vaccines helped reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 44 per cent in advanced stage melanoma patients.
Melbourne University cancer sciences specialist Dr Sathana Dushyanthen told ACM that while the research had been developing for decades, the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic had paved the way for them to be used for other conditions.
These vaccines work by training a person's immune system to fight their own cancer and are developed by taking a sample of each individual patient's tumour and healthy tissue.
mRNA vaccines have a lot of potential, and a lot of power, in a lot of diseases that were previously incurable
- Dr Sathana Dushyanthen
Because each vaccine is tailored to an individual patient, Dr Dushyanthen said it was possible to predict which mutations were going to be really important for specific patients and include them in their individual treatment.
"The personalised aspect of it is something that's really valuable, because a lot of other treatments you kind of mass produce them and they target all patients," she said.
"This approach is really targeted around a particular patient, So [it's a] very personalised approach and I think that's something that's probably a little bit different to other approaches before this."
Dr Dushyanthen said the vaccines provided a way of harnessing an individual's immune system and increasing its ability to fight off illnesses.
"mRNA vaccines have a lot of potential, and a lot of power, in a lot of diseases that were previously incurable," she said.
This comes as the federal and Victorian governments, in partnership with Moderna, have announced a new facility at Monash university to develop mRNA vaccines in Australia.
Dr Dushyanthen said the vaccines could be used to treat a number of illnesses including lung, colon and breast cancer as well as previously incurable diseases such as cystic fibrosis and HIV.
But, it was particularly useful with melanoma because it was more closely linked with the immune system than other cancers.
Australia has some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.
More than two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime, and about 2,000 Australians die from skin cancer each year.
RACGP dermatology chair associate professor Jeremy Hudson told ACM the latest trials were a pivotal moment in melanoma treatment.
He said the new vaccines' ability to stop the spread of cancer could be crucial for patients with advanced melanoma.
"For someone who's got cancer, or somebody whose relative has got cancer, it's absolutely invaluable," he said.
But, associate professor Hudson said there was still further research required before we would actually know how effective the vaccine was at fighting cancer.
He said a lot of medications show promising results in the short-term, but it was really important to see what the outcome would be in five to 10 years time. That was yet to be determined.
For someone who's got cancer, or somebody whose relative has got cancer, it's absolutely invaluable.
- Associate professor Jeremy Hudson
"It's maybe a bit early to say whether it's like the penicillin moment, but it's very promising," he said.
Co-medical director at the Melanoma Institute Australia, Professor Georgina Long, told ACM the mRNA technology was "absolutely phenomenal."
"It's a big leap forward for medicine, because there's going to be so many uses for it," she said.
According to Professor Long, the initial trials had mainly treated stage three melanoma patients where cancers hadn't spread around the entire body.
She said the technology was yet to be tested on stage four cancer patients, but the next step was seeing if the vaccine was effective for those with a higher burden of melanoma.
Professor Long said while the technology was providing doctors with a new way of fighting melanoma, prevention was still the most important thing.
If caught early, 90 per cent of melanoma can be treated with simple surgical excision, and Professor Long said it was even better to avoid melanoma by reducing UV exposure.
It was important people maintained skin care awareness. She was concerned about younger generations adopting unhealthy tanning habits.
"If you look on social media, and look at the influencers, tan equals sophistication, beauty, health," she said.
"When we see a tan though, it's your skin cells in trauma, that's exactly what a tan is."
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Prevention and early detection may remain the most crucial ingredients in tackling melanoma for the time being, with skin cancer vaccines still several years from widespread circulation.
Dr Dushyanthen said in the UK Biotech had a deal to deliver about 10,000 patients with mRNA cancer vaccines over the next 10 years.
The bespoke nature of the treatment meant they're expensive for pharmaceutical companies to produce.
"It's going to take a long time before it's going to be affordable and able to be manufactured at scale and delivered to masses of public," Dr Dushyanthen said.
In March 2023 the Melanoma Institute Australia will be holding Melanoma March in a number of cities around Australia to raise money for melanoma initiatives.
