Researchers have reported a groundbreaking achievement in the skin implant cancer treatment technique which is currently in the works. The implant reportedly works by easily entering the skin to prune cells which effectively attack and eliminate cancer cells, and it has worked effectively in mice, marking this as the first time that a cancer vaccine has worked on mammals.

In laboratory mice, the implant successfully killed melanoma tumors, the most serious form of skin cancer, marking a new breakthrough in the project of finding the first effective and least cumbersome treatment for cancer.

"Inserted anywhere under the skin - much like the implantable contraceptives that can be placed in a woman's arm - the implants activate an immune response that destroys tumor cells", shared Bioengineer Professor David Mooney, of Harvard University, Boston.

The small, fingernail-sized implants are disks made of a plastic which is biodegradable, and measure just 8.5 mm in diameter. About 90% plain air, these implants work by releasing chemicals called cytokines which aggressively work towards multiplying the powerful disease fighting immune-system messengers known as dendritic cells.

Although it will be quite some time before the study can be transferred to human, this is being viewed as one of the most important and significant development in the world of cancer treatment. Details of the experiment and its success have been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.