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BBC Inside Science

Is the era of the cancer vaccine upon us?

Aug 20, 2026 · 26m

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This week Merck (known as MSD in Europe) and Moderna announced that a personalised cancer vaccine had significantly improved the outcomes of melanoma patients. Is the era of the cancer vaccine, at last, upon us? What does that mean? Anne Willis, a cancer cell biologist at the Medical Research Council, joins us to discuss. In just a few weeks the Royal Society will be putting out the red carpet as the most coveted prize in non-fiction science is about to be awarded. We will be speaking weekly to the shortlisted authors for the Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize, and we are starting with Kit Chapman, author of the Age of Alchemy. Plus, Penny Sarchet has, like an alchemist of old, been scouring…