Cuban Cancer Vaccine Canadian in remission .

[helix]

Now this is very promising research from Cuba.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/lung-cancer-patient-says-she-s-now-in-remission-thanks-to-cuban-vaccine-1.3842678

[Stump89]

Very interesting read.  Thanks for sharing.

[ElPuro]

Curious they call it a vaccine, when clearly it was given after diagnosis. 

[NSXCIGAR]

This seems to be a drug that is being taken very seriously in terms of research in the US and some other countries right now but it appears that it's effectiveness could be extremely limited to a very small number of people in particular categories. That being said, there seems to be little downside to taking it so if it saves one person, I suppose it's a success. However if it's effectiveness is that limited chances are the price will be very high due to low demand and insurance may not cover it. Cuba is charging quite a bit of money for one year of treatment. 

I suppose even if it does work for a small number of people it would be the greatest innovation to ever come out of a communist country. Other than Tetris of course. 

[JamesKPolkEsq]

15 hours ago, ElPuro said:

Curious they call it a vaccine, when clearly it was given after diagnosis. 

A number of vaccines are in development as "therapeutic vaccines" - given after infection to induce your immune system to mount an effective response.

Rabies Vaccine is routinely administered post exposure - https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/index.html

Pathogens that have a reservoir in humans that are difficult to eliminate are typically candidates for this approach (Herpes, HIV, candida)

The vaccine in question is an interesting approach - it stimulates an immune response against a normal human protein (epidermal growth factor - EGF) that many Small Cell Lung Cancers (SCLC) hijack to reproduce themselves.

This will never be a prophylactic vaccine, since EGF is a relatively important molecule in healthy individuals (helps maintain skin and GI tract). 

If you have a SCLC line that is dependent on EGF, though, this would have an extremely high chance of helping you live a longer, healthier life.

There are a number of cancer vaccines like this in development. The main problem with these treatments isn't the price, it's that once an immune response is activated against a protein that is SUPPOSED to be present in healthy individuals, it's near impossible to turn off. Meaning in this case, the folks that get the vaccine will likely never have significant EGF in their bloodstream which results in serious complications (deterioration of GI tract, breakdown of the lung lining among them) .

Additionally, your body will sense there is no EGF in your bloodstream, and tell your endocrine systems to "hurry up and make some EGF". Since it induces an antibody response too, patients can end up with complications from too many circulating bound antibodies (potential kidney problems).

Essentially, this vaccine induces autoimmune disease - not super great, but beats dying of lung cancer.