Hello Nature readers,
This week, two melanoma therapy trials hit international headlines, an anti-migraine drug may stop cancer cells 'recycling' nutrients to survive starvation, and publishers band together to battle 'paper mills' that produce bogus research.

A 'penicillin moment' for cancer vaccines

The world-first trial of Moderna's personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma may represent a "penicillin moment in cancer therapy", says oncologist Georgina Long, who was involved in the Australian arm of the study. The vaccine uses genetic sequencing to identify unique mutations in each patient's tumour. In a study of 157 people, those who received the vaccine and the immunotherapy pembrolizumab were 44% less likely to develop new tumours or die over three years compared with those who only received pembrolizumab. "It is possible to see that [patients] may have cancer as a long-term disease rather than a death sentence," says Long.

Precision control over immunotherapy

Researchers have found a way to overcome the toxicity of a protein that stimulates anti-cancer immune response. Researchers engineered T cells that produce interleukin-2 once they are inside a tumour. This increases the local concentration of the protein, without the person needing to receive a toxic dose. In another study, a different team inserted 11 DNA sequences into chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to give researchers control over when and where the T cells were active, as well as their production of interleukin-2.

Multiplying immune cells already in tumours

A melanoma treatment that involves extracting and multiplying immune cells that have already infiltrated the tumour and then injecting them back into the patient is twice as effective as immunotherapy drugs. A randomized trial of 168 people with advanced melanoma, in which half received therapy based on tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and half received the immunotherapy ipilimumab, found that survival without cancer progression was more than twice as long in the TIL group.

How to disrupt cancer cell 'recycling'

An anti-migraine drug can prevent cancer cells from using 'recycling' as a survival strategy in low-nutrient conditions. In a mouse study of oral cancers, the drug disrupted the collaboration between pain-sensing nerves and tumours. The nerves supply a peptide that promotes cytoprotective autophagy — cell death as a way of yielding useful metabolites and protecting the cancer from starvation during nutrient-restrictive therapies.

Cholesterol drug combo passes safety test

A combination of the approved cholesterol drug bezafibrate and checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy seems to be safe. The regime, which is designed to enhance the effect of the immunotherapy, was tested in a phase I clinical trial involving 18 people with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who had previously failed to respond to treatments.

Reviving salivary glands after radiotherapy

Stem cell treatment has shown potential for treating 'dry mouth' in people who have undergone radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, but now we know how it works. Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (AT-MSCs) cause the expression of proteins in saliva to change. A study compared the saliva of eight people who had undergone radiotherapy and AT-MSC treatment with that of ten healthy controls. Although the AT-MSC treatment helped, it did not restore healthy conditions.

Deadly chemical gives workers bladder cancer

Factory workers exposed to high levels of a toxic chemical are now being diagnosed with bladder cancer, and the US regulatory body that is supposed to protect them — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — "has all but given up on trying to set a truly protective threshold for ortho-toluidine and thousands of other chemicals", reports Sharon Lerner for ProPublica. "The agency has only updated standards for three chemicals in the past 25 years; each took more than a decade to complete."