Might mRNA vaccines replace chemotherapy for cancer treatment? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Receipt of an mRNA vaccine for Covid within 100 days of beginning immunotherapy for lung cancer or melanoma increased a person’s survival likelihood by a factor of two or greater, a new study shows. Johns Hopkins mRNA expert Jeff Coller says the implications are huge.

Coller: The real dream here is that we could have an mRNA based treatment that could be used to put into the body and then would allow the immune system, the natural fighting capacity of your body to go after those tumors and attack it in a way that is much more safe and effective than normal traditional chemotherapy. mRNA is a natural product. Your body makes millions of mRNAs every single day and so when we introduce an mRNA we're simply taking advantage of a normal system that exists in your body.    :33

The study also showed benefits even in those whose tumors weren’t normally responsive to immunotherapy, with an almost fivefold survival benefit at three years. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.