In a breathtaking breakthrough, the Russian Health Ministry has announced that a cancer vaccine has been developed and will be rolled out to patients for “free” sometime in early 2025. This vaccine will not be given to the public to prevent cancer, rather it will be given to treat cancer patients. The number of patients with cancer is increasing at an alarming rate, so this can be a boon to patients having cancer.
According to Alexander Gintsburg, the Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, pre-clinical trials of this newly developed vaccine show that it prevents tumor development and potential metastases. Previously, the Russian president stated that Russian scientists were very much on the threshold of developing vaccines that could be used in treating cancer.
How Do Vaccines Work?
Vaccines are used in the treatment of cancers in that they stimulate the immune system to recognize and respond to pathogens that look like cancer.
Therapeutic cancer vaccines target specific proteins or antigens on tumor cells to train the immune system to recognize and destroy them. Some deliver these antigens using weakened or modified viruses that trigger powerful immune responses. Preventive vaccines, such as the HPV vaccine, guard against virus-related cancers and thus reduce one’s risk of developing certain cancers, such as cervix cancer. Vaccines have the potential to slow tumor progression, prevent the disease from returning, or even eradicate early-stage cancers by enhancing immune function and constitute a very hopeful area in oncology.
Other countries, like the USA, and the UK are also working tirelessly to develop vaccines for cancer treatment for the betterment of their people.
