Russia prepares clinical trials of cancer vaccine

The vaccine being tested is based on the use of non-pathogenic viruses with anti-cancer activity, which are introduced into the patient's body.

Russia will conduct phase 1 clinical trials of an anti-cancer vaccine from late 2024 to early 2025.

This is the announcement just made by Mr. Andrey Kaprin, chief oncologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, General Director of the National Research Center for Medical Radiology.

Vaccination. (Photo: AFP/VNA).

According to a correspondent in Russia, this vaccine, as Mr. Kaprin explained, is based on the use of non-pathogenic viruses with anti-cancer activity, which are introduced into the patient's body.

When tested on animals, this vaccine was non-toxic and showed high effectiveness.

Preclinical testing results allow the transition to human clinical trials.

The vaccine dossier has been submitted to the Ministry of Health for permission to recruit volunteers for human trials. According to Mr. Kaprin, these volunteers must not have received chemotherapy.

Research into mRNA vaccines in the cancer industry is also ongoing, said Kaprin . The mRNA vaccine would be delivered to the patient in a 'super-precise' way, and would be responsible for creating a 'tumor passport', called a neoantigen profile.

Patients with melanoma and lung cancer will be the first to test the vaccine, said Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.

In early July, Mr. Kaprin reported that the death rate of cancer patients in Russia had decreased in the first year after its discovery. The figure has decreased by more than 5% in 8 years.

According to Mr. Kaprin, in 2015 this rate was 23.6% and in 2023 it was 18.3%. In 2023 compared to 2022, the cancer mortality rate in the first year decreased by 4.7%.

At the same time, cancer detection is improving: in 2023, cancer was detected in 74,587 people, 8% higher than in 2021.