As U.S. relations grow with Cuba, one unexpected byproduct could be the introduction of a Cuban-developed lung cancer vaccine in the U.S. called Cimavax. Cimavax is an innovative vaccine that was developed in order to treat lung cancer patients in Cuba.
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Cuba.
The immunotherapy treatment could be coming to the U.S. thanks in part to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Rosewell Park Cancer Institute is working with Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology to bring the treatment to the U.S.
Cimavax is a vaccine designed by Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology to help lung cancer patients by targeting a specific hormone that can encourage tumors to grow. Cimavax induces an immune response in order to stop EFG production essentially starving the tumor.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute is hoping to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a phase 1 study in the next six to eight months.
The initial study would be used to confirm what previous studies in Cuba have found that the vaccine is safe for patients and has minimal side effects. A phase 1 effect may initially have between twelve and eighteen patients.
If the drug is found to be successful, the vaccine could be tested on other cancers that use EGF to grow quickly, this could include breast cancer, pancreatic cancer or head and neck cancer.
Experts have clarified that the drug is designed to help stop tumor growth but not designed to cure cancer or put patients in remission.
The news that this drug may come to the U.S. is exciting. Politics should not prohibit good science from being further tested and evaluated.
