Experimental skin cancer vaccine heading to the Netherlands

Radboud UMC in Nijmegen is launching an experimental treatment against skin cancer from December 1st. From then hundreds of people with skin cancer can receive an experimental vaccine to prevent the disease recurrence, RTL Nieuws reports.

The vaccine activates the patients' immune system to turn against this form of cancer. The treatment is intended for skin cancer patients who had lymph node metastases removed recently. A total of 210 people can participate in the experiment, but other patients can also get the vaccine as a basic treatment.

In the Netherlands about 300 patients is eligible for the vaccine every year. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the Netherlands.

The experiment will run until 2021 and the treatment will be offered in Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Zwe.It is led by Professor of Translational Tumor Immunology Jolanda de Vries of the Radboud UMC.