World-First Cancer Vaccine Cuts Melanoma Recurrence or Death Risk by 42% in Landmark Trial

Zeroing in on a skin cancer vaccine

By Carly Cassella

It's been 20 years since Australian researchers created the world's first vaccine developed specifically to prevent cancer.

Thanks to the HPV vaccine, Australia is on track to become one of the first nations in the world to eliminate cervical cancer.

Now, research led by scientists Down Under has made another breakthrough – this time for skin cancer.

The first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine has now succeeded in a phase 3 clinical trial, reducing the risk of melanoma returning or causing death by 42 percent compared with standard immunotherapy alone.

The results are even better than scientists were expecting.

The global principal investigator, medical oncologist Georgina Long from Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), presented the results at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2026.

They are set to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

I’ve been talking to MAGA supporters for years, and here’s why some are sticking with Trump — and others are not

It's Joe Biden's fault

Alex Hinton, Rutgers University - Newark

Donald Trump’s approval ratings are cratering. Even his Make America Great Again, or MAGA, diehards have reservations.

This fact was evident to me when I attended MAGA rallies in three states on Oct. 24-25, 2026. One was a Turning Point USA get-out-the-vote event outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Along with a few dozen America First stalwarts wearing white “America the Beautiful” caps, I sat on a wooden table under a small picnic pavilion listening to speakers such as MAGA activist Scott Presler and Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser. Meuser reeled off MAGA talking points, including the supposed threat posed by transgender athletes and bathroom use, immigrant voter fraud and the “billionaire anarchist George Soros.”

Remarkably, the speakers barely mentioned Trump. The audience clapped politely, but the energy was tepid compared to the many MAGA rallies I attended in 2024, when the Pennsylvania landscape was dotted with Trump and MAGA signs. This time I saw none.

The numbers bear out what I observed.

A mid-October 2026 poll found that only a third of U.S. adults approve of the job Trump is doing; 71% feel the country is on the wrong track. The majority of Americans are pessimistic. A growing number worry about government corruption.

The reason?

There’s the war with Iran that has resulted in U.S. soldiers being killed and wounded. The conflict is costing billions of dollars and spiked the price of gas. But most of all, Trump has lost support on the economy amid growing inflation and an affordability crisis.

Remarkably, despite the headwinds, many of Trump’s MAGA loyalists still back him. This point was underscored by the Harrisburg event I attended as well as Trump’s midterm rallies, where attendees still enthusiastically chant “U.S.A.” and are decked out in red caps and MAGA merch.

Why?

I’m an anthropologist who has been studying Trump and his MAGA movement for years. I wrote a newly updated book, “It Can Happen Here,” on Trumpism and U.S. history. I have previously written about why people voted for Trump in 2024.

Based on my research, I see three key reasons some voters still back him. Meuser stressed all three at the Harrisburg rally as he warned of “lunatic” left socialism while extolling the Trump administration’s track record, including the immigration crackdown.