This vaccine works like immunotherapy.

A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is typically grim, with just 13% of patients living for more than five years after being diagnosed. But new data from a clinical trial showed that seven out of 16 patients who were given personalized mRNA vaccines responded to the treatment—and are still alive six years later.

How it works: The vaccine works like immunotherapy. After cancerous tumors are surgically removed from an early-stage pancreatic cancer patient, they’re used to create a vaccine that trains the patient’s immune system to fight off lingering (or future) cancer cells. It’s the same mRNA technology that was used in the Covid vaccine, which studies estimate saved millions of lives:

Scientists warn that mRNA still needs to be studied more as a cancer treatment. A larger Phase 2 trial is in progress.

Earlier this month, Revolution Medicines also reported that a separate treatment, a pill called daraxonrasib, has nearly doubled a pancreatic cancer patient’s life expectancy compared with chemotherapy.

Despite doctors saying mRNA technology is safe, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other Trump administration officials have questioned the technology, and put research dollars in limbo. In February, the FDA said it wouldn’t review a new flu vaccine that used mRNA technology, but quickly reversed its decision following backlash.