Russia says it’s developed a cancer vaccine and will launch it for free

Russia‘s health ministry claims it has developed a vaccine against cancer that will be rolled out to patients for free.

Andrey Kaprin, who heads the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health, said the shot will launch in early 2025, according to state-run media.

The vaccine will apparently be used to treat cancer patients, rather than being given to the general public to prevent tumors from forming in the first place.

Previous comments by Russian government scientists suggest each shot is personalized for the individual patient, which is similar to cancer vaccines being developed in the West.

It is currently not clear which cancers the vaccine is designed to treat, how effective it is or how Russia plans to roll it out.

The name of the vaccine has not been revealed. 

Similar to the rest of the world, cancer rates are increasing in Russia, with more than 635,000 cases recorded in 2022. 

Colon, breast, and lung cancers are believed to be the country’s most common forms of the disease.

Personalized cancer vaccines are designed to teach the immune system how to recognize and attack proteins specific to that patient’s cancer. 

To do this, vaccines use genetic material called RNA from a patient’s own tumor.

In the same way traditional vaccines use part of the virus to prevent disease, these use harmless proteins from the surface of cancer cells, known as antigens.

When these antigens are introduced into the body, it should stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against them, which then kill the cancer cells. 

Other countries have also been working to develop their own personalized cancer vaccines. 

In May, researchers at the University of Florida tested an individualized vaccine in four patients with glioblastoma, the aggressive brain cancer that killed Senator John McCain and Beau Biden. 

The team found that the shot triggers a strong immune response just two days after injection. 

Senior study author Elias Sayour, a UF Health pediatric oncologist, said: ‘In less than 48 hours, we could see these tumors shifting from what we refer to as “cold” – immune cold, very few immune cells, very silenced immune response – to “hot,” very active immune response.’

And in the UK, scientists are testing a personalized vaccine for melanoma.

Early results have shown that it drastically improved survival chances of the disease, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. 

Steve Young, a 52-year-old melanoma patient in the UK, has taken the vaccine as part of a clinical trial. 

He said: ‘This is my best chance at stopping the cancer in its tracks.’