A dermatologist tested GPT-6 Astra and Claude Fable 5.1 against a fine-tuned, decade-old Inception v3 convolutional neural network on 200 biopsy-confirmed skin lesions from the public MILK10k dataset. The CNN correctly identified the diagnosis in 62% of cases, versus 42% and 43% for the two frontier large language models, including correctly flagging a melanoma that both LLMs misclassified as benign and recommended for discharge.
lynchlab.net
· 2026-10-25
Merck and Moderna announced Phase 3 results for a personalized mRNA vaccine, Intismeran Autogene, given alongside the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab to 1,137 high-risk melanoma patients after tumor removal surgery. Over an average 24.6-month follow-up, the combination reduced recurrence or death risk by 42% and metastasis risk by 38% compared with Pembrolizumab alone, with 82.2% of combination-treatment patients remaining recurrence-free versus 70% on Pembrolizumab alone.
wired.com
· 2026-10-24
Moderna and Merck said their experimental melanoma vaccine showed strong results in a late-stage clinical trial, nearly halving patients' risk of cancer recurrence or death. The companies are now preparing to seek regulatory approval, with the treatment potentially reaching patients as early as 2027.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-23
Merck and Moderna released full results from a trial of their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine earlier than planned, after details apparently leaked. The companies reported that 82% of patients who received the vaccine alongside Keytruda remained cancer-free two years later.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-23
A phase III trial of 1,137 melanoma patients found that intismeran, a personalized mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck, reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 42% when given alongside an immunotherapy drug after tumour-removal surgery. The companies released key results early after trial data leaked online ahead of their scheduled presentation at a European oncology conference in Madrid on 24 October.
nature.com
· 2026-10-23
Moderna and Merck announced that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, combined with Merck's Keytruda, reduced the risk of death or cancer recurrence by 42% compared to Keytruda alone in a Phase 3 trial of 1,137 patients with stage IIB-IV melanoma. The companies released top-line results early after an oncology news outlet broke an embargo ahead of a scheduled presentation at the European Society of Medical Oncology conference in Madrid, with full data set for publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-22
Moderna's shares fell as much as 25% after partial trial results for its personalized melanoma vaccine, developed with Merck, leaked ahead of the official release. The full data showed the vaccine combined with Merck's Keytruda cut recurrence or death risk by 42% versus Keytruda alone, with 82% of patients cancer-free at two years compared to 70% on Keytruda alone.
slashdot.org
· 2026-10-22
A man who injected Melanotan-II, a gym-sold peptide marketed for skin tanning, developed a new melanoma, according to a reported case. The substance, nicknamed the 'Barbie drug,' is not approved for medical use and has previously been associated with serious health complications.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-08
Researchers analyzed tumor-draining lymph nodes from melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer patients, comparing those with early disease recurrence to those without, using tissue collected during routine diagnostic procedures at Erasmus MC. The study identifies the enzyme PLA2G2D as a regulator within these lymph nodes that influences how effectively the immune system mounts a response against tumors.
nature.com
· 2026-09-09
AI-powered dermatology tools designed to identify skin conditions like melanoma are becoming more accurate overall, but researchers have found these systems perform less reliably for patients with darker skin. The disparity stems largely from training datasets that contain far fewer images of skin conditions on non-white patients.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-06
A phase III trial of intismeran, a personalized cancer vaccine developed by Merck and Moderna, showed that melanoma patients who received it had longer recurrence-free survival than those given a placebo. The double-blind study of more than 1,100 participants builds on an earlier phase II trial with 157 patients and moves the vaccine closer to regulatory approval.
nature.com
· 2026-08-28
GoKawiil