World's First Lung Cancer Treatment Vaccine Approved In Cuba !!!

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Sat Jul-26-08 05:51 PM
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World's First Lung Cancer Treatment Vaccine Approved In Cuba !!!

Edited on Sat Jul-26-08 06:08 PM by Better Believe It

The Mesothelioma Resource Center
July 3, 2008

Last week, the first vaccine to extend the lives of lung cancer patients was approved in Cuba. Though other similar vaccines are being tested around the world, the drug CimaVax EGF is the first to receive official endorsement; it is expected that CimaVax will be approved next in Peru, where it could be publicly accessible by the end of the year.

Unlike chemotherapy, CimaVax causes very few side effects. It uses a modified protein that attacks only the cancer cells, causing minimal adverse reaction in patients. Development for the vaccine began in 1992.

The cost of the treatment has not yet been determined. Cuban officials, however, have stated that they will welcome foreigners who seek vaccine administration. "It's possible to provide this vaccine to any patient, because it's available in Cuba, it's approved by the Cuban drug agency so we can market the vaccine in Cuba and we can receive patients from outside," said director of clinical investigations at Havana's molecular immunology center.

Americans, however, will have difficulty accessing CimaVax. The trade embargo enacted in 1962 restricts travel to Cuba and will serious impede Americans' ability to try this new therapy.

http://blog.mesorc.com/2008/07/03/worlds-first-lung-cancer-vaccine-approved-in-cuba/

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Havana Journal
June 24, 2008

Cuban scientists said on Tuesday the first vaccine to extend lives of lung cancer patients has been approved by Cuban authorities for use and is available in the island’s hospitals.

The drug, CimaVax EGF, has been shown to increase survival rates on average four to five months and much longer in some patients, they said in a news conference at Cuba’s Center of Molecular Immunology.

In contrast to chemotherapy, the traditional treatment for lung cancer, they said CimaVax EGF has few side effects because it is a modified protein that attacks only cancer cells.

They said it was the first lung cancer vaccine to be approved anywhere in the world, although there are others currently being tested.

“It’s the first vaccine for lung cancer registered in the world,” said Gisela Gonzalez, who headed the development of the vaccine, begun in 1992.

http://havanajournal.com/culture/entry/cuba-approves-cimavax-lung-cancer-vaccine/

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Cancer Research Journal
July 26th, 2008

Cuba has approved CimaVax EGF, the first vaccine in the world to be approved for the treatment of lung cancer.

Cuban scientists held a news conference earlier this week at the Center of Molecular Immunology in Havana to announce the availability of the new vaccine. They reported that studies had shown CimaVax EGF increased lung cancer patient survival an average of 4 to 5 months and it produced fewer side effects than standard therapies because the vaccine only targets malignant cells.

Several private companies have already been licensed to market the treatment, which will be produced in Cuba.

Cuban health officials said patients from outside the island nation are welcome to travel Cuba for treatment, but American patients may be unable to take advantage of the offer because of travel restrictions put in place by the US in the 1960s. As one Havana scientist said,

“Even though there is a new therapeutic tool approved in Cuba they (US citizens) probably wouldn’t be able to come to Cuba to receive it because of the embargo.”

Tania Crombet, MD
Director of Clinical Investigations
Molecular Immunology Center (Havana)

http://cancerresearchjournal.com/2008/06/26/cuba-approves-cimavax-egf-vaccine-for-lung-cancer/

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Cuban News Agency
July 26, 2008

According to Dr. Gisela Gonzalez, who headed the development of the vaccine at the Center of Molecular Immunology, it has shown to increase survival rates on average four to five months and much longer in some patients.

“The first clinical trial was made in Cuba in 1995 and it included 400 patients with advanced lung cancer who had already received the traditional treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy,” she said.

Among the advantages of the vaccine, Gonzalez said, it improves the patients’ breathing and appetite and decreases their pain.

She added that the vaccine, based on two proteins, triggers an immune response and has no side effects.

Gonzalez noted that five Phase One trials have been carried out while two Phase Two trials have been concluded in Cuba, Canada and England.

She announced that the third clinical trial is underway in 11 Cuban hospitals and that Phase Two trials would begin next August in Peru and China.

Dr. Gisela Gonzalez