Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
· collected 2026-09-03 · by Angus Dalton
Professor Georgina Long, a scientist from Sydney, has won Australia's premier science research prize for her work on a "moon landing" cancer vaccine that prevents recurrence of melanoma after surgery. Long led a recent trial of the mRNA vaccine, which showed a 49% reduction in risk of recurrence or death when combined with the existing treatment Keytruda, and is being developed by Moderna and Merck. The phase 3 trial involved 1137 high-risk melanoma patients, half of whom received the experimental vaccine, and produced "clinically and statistically significant improvements" according to the companies behind it. Long's win was in recognition of her team effort and leadership in developing this new approach to cancer treatment, which she described as an "absolute landmark" for cancer research.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The scientist who transformed advanced melanoma into a treatable cancer and led a recent large-scale trial into a world-first personalised mRNA cancer vaccine has won the research prize at Australia’s premier science awards.
asserted
who → transform → awards
Professor Georgina Long was cautious to discuss the melanoma vaccine trial given that full results won’t be released until October, but described it as an “absolute landmark, fork-in-the-road for cancer” ahead of being awarded the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research at the Australian Museum on Thursday night.
asserted
results → discuss → night
“It represents a huge body of work and team effort, and it’s an honour, really, to represent all the people that I lead,” the former Australian of the Year said of the award.
asserted
Australian → represent → award
“We’re a small but mighty country.
asserted
We → ’re → ?
We’ve got to keep the investments in Australia.
asserted
We → get → Australia
We’ve got to take greater risks.”
asserted
We → get → risks
Long is on a sabbatical in Lisbon, Portugal, away from her duties as medical director of the Melanoma Institute Australia at the University of Sydney to think and plan the next stages of her research.
asserted
Long → think → research
The new vaccine, developed by Moderna and Merck, aims to prevent recurrence of melanoma after a tumour is removed.
asserted
tumour → develop → melanoma
Long was the principal investigator of the phase 3 trial and said it provided “the first real data that demonstrates mRNA technology can absolutely change the face of cancer”.
asserted
technology → say → cancer
Without yet providing details, the companies said on August 20 that the late-stage trial produced clinically and statistically significant improvements in high-risk melanoma patients.
asserted
trial → provide → patients
Moderna’s market value leapt by $62 billion in a day.
asserted
value → leap → day
And there’s only one point: to make a difference as much as you can, and do it well.
asserted
you → ’ → it
For the trial, 1137 high-risk melanoma patients were given the cancer drug Keytruda.
asserted
patients → give → drug
Half also received the experimental vaccine.
asserted
Half → receive → vaccine
Researchers sequenced patients’ tumours after surgery and identified mutations, unique to each person’s cancer, that code for abnormal proteins on the surface of cancer cells called neoantigens.
asserted
that → sequence → cells
A custom mRNA vaccine was crafted for each patient based on the specific neoantigens in their tumour, teaching the immune system exactly what to look for.
Normal cells have proteins which stop the immune system attacking healthy tissue.
asserted
system → craft → tissue
Melanomas hijack these cellular signals, masquerading as normal cells and growing unchecked.
asserted
Melanomas → hijack → cells
Keytruda stops this from happening, ripping off melanoma’s invisibility cloak.
asserted
Keytruda → stop → cloak
Results presented from a much smaller phase 2 trial in June showed combining Keytruda and the vaccine led to a 49 per cent reduction in the risk of recurrence or death, compared to just the cancer drug.
asserted
combining → present → drug
As the president of Merck put it, the mRNA vaccine, called intismeran autogene, gives the immune system the scent of the enemy.
asserted
vaccine → put → enemy
Then Keytruda releases “the dogs of war”.
asserted
Keytruda → release → war
“It is a moon-landing moment,” Long said.
asserted
Long → land → ?
Others are investigating whether the same approach could work in lung and pancreatic cancer.
uncertain
approach → investigate → cancer
When Long started working in melanoma, faces in her waiting room would change within six to nine months.
asserted
faces → start → months
You think of the worst cancers now, and I can name them – pancreatic cancer [and] glioblastoma – melanoma was worse than those two.
asserted
melanoma → think → two
Nothing worked ...
asserted
Nothing → work → ?
chemotherapy did nothing.
asserted
chemotherapy → do → nothing
“The waiting room would be completely different because people died, and the majority of people died within 12 months.”
asserted
majority → die → months
Long and her collaborators have turned that story around.
asserted
Long → turn → story
A trial Long led in 2018 found combining two immunotherapy drugs – nivolumab and ipilimumab – had a 46 per cent response rate in patients with melanoma that had metastasised to the brain, compared with 20 per cent when just one drug was used.
asserted
drug → lead → cent
The finding changed clinical practice “overnight”.
asserted
finding → change → practice
Seven-year follow-up data reported in The Lancet Oncology last year found 51 per cent of patients given the combination immunotherapy as a first-line treatment had survived, compared with 29 per cent on the single drug.
asserted
cent → report → drug
That’s just some of Long’s work, which is credited with ushering the survival rate of advanced melanoma from 5 to 50 per cent.
asserted
which → ’ → cent
She and colleague Professor Richard Scolyer were named Australians of the Year in 2024 for their research on cancer.
asserted
She → name → cancer
Crucially, tactics pioneered in melanoma treatment have gone on to have a “massive impact” in cancers of the lung, kidney, head, neck and bladder and some lymphomas, Long said.
asserted
Long → pioneer → lung
“Every single drug developed in melanoma first … has gone on to impact an extraordinary number of patients with other cancers,” Long said.
asserted
Long → develop → cancers
Long’s focus is on the patients resistant to treatment: the difficult territory between what we know and don’t know where “courageous medicine happens”, such as the testing of drugs never trialled in people.
asserted
medicine → know → people
She calls it the “third space”.
asserted
She → call → it
“We’ve cured 50 per cent, [but] we’ve still got 50 per cent who die, and they die quickly like the old days.
asserted
they → cure → days
They are our third space,” she said.
asserted
she → say → ?
…and 3 more, not listed.
