This treatment, referred to as mRNA-4359, is undergoing phase 1/2 clinical trials at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to assess its safety and effectiveness against melanoma, lung cancer, and other solid tumours. Developed to train the immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells by presenting them with common tumour markers, this approach represents a significant advance in immunotherapy.

The trial, Mobilize, is a collaborative effort between Imperial College London and the NHS Trust, with patients receiving their treatments at the NIHR Imperial Clinical Research Facility. Early stages of the trial are focused on evaluating the therapy's safety, alone or when combined with pembrolizumab, a known immune checkpoint inhibitor, and its potential in shrinking tumours.

The initiative reflects a broader movement towards leveraging the body's immune system against cancer, promising a future of treatments that are both less toxic and more targeted. An 81-year-old man with resistant malignant melanoma was among the first in the UK to participate.

This trial is part of a larger investment by the UK to advance mRNA-based immunotherapies against cancer in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna.

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