mRNA vaccines take advantage of the body’s own systems, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Combating cancer may soon include immunization with an mRNA vaccine, as studies accumulate demonstrating their benefit in revving up the immune system against the disease. mRNA expert Jeff Coller at Johns Hopkins says this is one way to engage your innate abilities to target cancer.

Coller: Your body knows how to respond to it. It's been evolved to do this over millions of years and so what we're doing is taking 2 great principles: the idea of using the immune system to fight cancer, so again this is something that your body knows how to do. Your body knows how to fight foreign things and your body also knows how to respond to an mRNA and by taking an mRNA and now helping train the immune system to attack a tumor it's really chocolate and peanut butter. They're 2 great tastes that go great together.  :32

The most recent study showed dramatic survival benefits in both lung cancer and melanoma three years after the vaccine was administered, also raising the prospect that an off the shelf vaccine might do the trick rather than a personalized shot. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.