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Scientists have created an implantable vaccine that may one day be used to treat skin cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Researchers announced on Friday that they have begun a Phase I clinical trial of a vaccine to treat melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer.

While current therapeutic cancer vaccines require the removal, reprogramming and reintroducing of the body's immune cells, the new vaccine uses a small disk-like sponge made from FDA-approved polymers. Researchers explain that the fingernail-sized sponge, which is implanted under the skin, is designed to recruit and reprogram a patient's own immune cells "on site," instructing them to identify and kill cancer cells. 

While the vaccine was initially designed to treat melanoma in the skin, scientists believe it might have application to other cancers.

The new approach was first reported to eliminate tumors in mice in 2009. The findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Researchers found that 50 percent of mice treated with two doses of the vaccine showed complete tumor regression. Mice treated with a placebo died from melanoma within 25 days, according to researchers.

"Our vaccine was made possible by combining a wide range of biomedical expertise that thrives in Boston and Cambridge," lead researcher David J. Mooney, Ph.D, who specializes in the design of biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery, said in news release.

"It is rare to get a new technology tested in the laboratory and moved into human clinical trials so quickly," added co-researcher Glenn Dranoff, M.D, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Leader of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Program in Cancer Immunology. "We're beyond thrilled with the momentum, and excited about its potential."

The Phase I study, which will assess the safety of the vaccine in humans, is expected to conclude in 2015.