Cancer vaccine: created in the USA, works in Russia
Vadim Massalsky, Voice of AmericaNews about new methods of cancer treatment always arouse increased interest in society, associated with old skepticism and new hopes.
The recent presentation in Moscow of a personalized vaccine for the therapeutic treatment of kidney cancer was no exception (read more about this vaccine in the article "Ahead of the whole planet" – VM).
The president of the American corporation "Antigenics" Armen Karo admitted at a meeting with the press that he was prompted to do research in this area by a family tragedy – the death of his mother. The businessman's goal was to create effective therapeutic methods of cancer treatment already in the early stages of the disease. Such studies are particularly difficult. Firstly, they require long-term observations, and, secondly, they are limited by very strict legislation of some countries. That is why many medical firms refuse such work. The company "Antigenics" took a long time – about 20 years, and huge investments – more than 500 million dollars to achieve serious, encouraging results. Now the result of these studies is a new antitumor drug – oncophagus.
The oncophagus is obtained from the tumor tissue of a particular patient. It is a complex of heat shock proteins and fragments of tumor peptides. This is a unique "antigenic complex" of the patient's tumor, which retargets the human immune system, setting it up to recognize and destroy only cancer cells throughout the body. At the same time, there are almost no side effects. Healthy cells are not only not damaged, but also receive long-term "anti-tumor memory", which significantly (by 47 percent) reduces the risk of relapse. Oncophagus, according to the developers of the drug, is able to help the treatment of kidney cancer in the early stages, when there is no alternative therapy.
The oncophagus is produced individually for each patient from his tumor tissue in a modern laboratory – the production division of the company "Antigenics" in Massachusetts. Then the personal vaccine in frozen form is delivered to the hospital, directly to the attending physician. As a rule, the oncophagus is ready for use 4-5 weeks after the removal of the tumor. It is injected subcutaneously once a week, and then once every two weeks. The average number of injections is 12.
The Vice President of Antigenix for Corporate Communications, Sani Uberoi, noted that oncophagus is a research drug and is not yet sold in any country. However, now the company "Antigenics" is working on obtaining permission to use the drug in several large regions at once, in particular, in the European Union and Canada. Directly in the USA, the drug has been assigned a very rare status of "accelerated review" by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Vatican is interested in sponsoring research in this area.
In Russia, the company has special plans. It was here, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, since 2000, that the most serious and qualitative research was carried out. And it was Russian practitioners who showed great professional interest and enthusiasm in making the new vaccine effective and widely available. In April 2008, the individualized therapeutic cancer vaccine oncophagus was approved for use in Russia.
"I believe that the creation of a personalized oncophagus vaccine is a sensation in the treatment of kidney cancer, and in the future, possibly, other malignant tumors!", – Mikhail Lechinitser, deputy director of the Russian Cancer Research Center, was not afraid to make such a statement to the press. According to this Moscow professor, the creation of the drug is a logical and long–awaited result of many years of international research work, and now practical medicine together with science can begin to reap good fruits. The medical experience of Mikhail Lechinitser confirms the good tolerability, and most importantly, the effectiveness of the drug in the treatment of cancer, a sharp reduction in the number of relapses. In addition, Professor Lechinitzer noted with satisfaction that the new American discovery started working in Russia earlier than in other countries.
The chief urologist of the Russian Ministry of Health, Professor Dmitry Pushkar, agrees with this opinion. He believes that it is the use of an oncophagus that will help save thousands and thousands of human lives in the coming years. According to Dmitry Pushkar, today much will depend on the work of domestic government institutions, which can give the green light for wider use of the new drug in Russia. And doctors who have already been convinced of the effectiveness of the new drug now bear moral responsibility for its early introduction into the Russian medical process.
In addition, it is known that many Americans, according to the vice president of the company "Antigenics" Sani Uberoy, are already ready to come to Russia to undergo an officially authorized course of therapeutic treatment using a personalized vaccine. And the president of Antigenics, Armen Karo, confirms his readiness to invest more than $ 50 million to create a laboratory plant for the production of a new therapeutic drug already in Russia.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru29.01.2009