Researchers are now using to help tailor cancer treatments and uncover overlooked uses for existing medicines. Other systems can search microscopic images or identify subtle biological signals that people could easily miss.
Some of these technologies have already helped patients. Others remain in clinical trials or research labs, so we need to be careful about separating promising science from treatments you can actually receive today.
Still, what researchers are accomplishing would have been difficult to imagine a few years ago. Here’s where AI is already and what you should know before trusting it with your health.
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CANCER VACCINE PREVENTS DEADLY MELANOMA FROM RETURNING OR SPREADING IN LANDMARK TRIAL
One of the biggest recent developments comes from Moderna and Merck. On Aug. 19, the companies announced positive topline results from a Phase 3 melanoma trial. The study tested intismeran autogene, also known as V940 or mRNA-4157, alongside Keytruda. The trial enrolled 1,137 people with high-risk melanoma that surgeons had completely removed. The combination met its primary endpoint for recurrence-free survival. It also met a key secondary endpoint measuring distant metastasis-free survival.
Merck and Moderna said this was the first positive Phase 3 readout for an individualized neoantigen therapy. It was also the first positive Phase 3 result for an mRNA-based cancer therapy. That sounds complicated, but the basic idea is fascinating. Researchers start with a sample of a patient’s tumor. They analyze its unique mutations and use an algorithm to select targets that may help the immune system recognize the cancer. The resulting individualized therapy can encode up to 34 neoantigens. Moderna has also said the V940 program uses integrated AI algorithms during the development process.
The company then creates an mRNA treatment based on the selected targets. You may have seen this approach called a personalized cancer vaccine. Moderna and Merck currently describe intismeran as an individualized neoantigen therapy. The goal is to to recognize characteristics unique to that patient’s cancer.
There is plenty of reason for excitement, but there is also an important limitation. Merck and Moderna have announced only topline results from the Phase 3 trial so far. The companies plan to present the full findings at an international medical meeting and share them with regulators. The study also continues to track overall survival.
Earlier results offer additional context. In a smaller Phase 2b study with longer follow-up, intismeran plus Keytruda reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% compared with Keytruda alone. It also reduced the risk of distant metastasis or death by 59%. Those earlier results came from a much smaller patient group. That makes the larger Phase 3 trial an important step forward. Still, intismeran remains investigational. The FDA has not approved intismeran as a melanoma treatment.
Developing a new medicine can take years. Another group of researchers is asking a different question: What if a useful treatment already exists? Dr. David Fajgen
