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Cubans Have Had a Vaccine for Lung Cancer Since 2011, and Now the U.S. Can Finally Use It
24 March 2017
[DIGEST: HuffPo, The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, The Sun]
The Obama administration’s efforts to loosen the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba last year may have unearthed an unexpected benefit: a vaccine for lung cancer.
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The medication, called CIMAVax, is the result of </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20387330">25 years of research</a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at Cuba’s Center of Molecular Immunology and has been available to Cuban citizens since 2011. (You can download a PDF of the study <a href="http://www.medicc.org/mediccreview/index.php?issue=11&id=128&a=va">HERE</a>.)</span></p><p><div id="insticator-container" class="embedid-ee1b1245-7f34-4d5c-8a70-c8be74fe7696"><div id="div-insticator-ad-1"></div><div id="insticator-embed"></div><div id="div-insticator-ad-2"></div><script data-cfasync="false" type="text/javascript">Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-1");Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-2");Insticator.load("em",{id : "ee1b1245-7f34-4d5c-8a70-c8be74fe7696"})</script></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, most Americans haven’t even heard of it due to an American embargo in place on Cuban goods since the early 1960s.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s about to change.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In October of 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury instituted sanction amendments that allowed exceptions for pharmaceuticals imported from Cuba, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/health/cancer-vaccine-cuba-medical-tourism.html?_r=0"><span style="font-weight: 400;">received Food and Drug Administration approval</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to begin a clinical trial of CIMAVax. Though CIMAVax has been tested in other countries, including Japan and Europe, it will be the </span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/cubas-lung-cancer-vaccine/505778/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">first time</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the U.S. has ever run a clinical trial with Cuban drugs.</span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjAzNzUyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzM3NDk4Nn0.oIoXpgmk5Qi2ZQr7vg3gMXmBIX06rhx_-JFZFU4ly2I/img.jpg?width=980" id="daf5f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4edff743889b11a74bff92c5129285fe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Credit: <a href="https://assets.rbl.ms/22037526/origin.jpg">Source</a>.</small></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’re still at the very early stages of assessing the promise of this vaccine, but the evidence so far from clinical trials in Cuba and Europe has been striking,” </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/02/22/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html?"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Dr. Kelvin Lee of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">CIMAVax is not just a vaccine, but a treatment: Part of the new class of immunotherapy cancer drugs, it works by boosting the patient’s immune system to fight the disease. CIMAVax specifically targets a lung cancer-specific protein called </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/health/cancer-vaccine-cuba-medical-tourism.html?_r=0"><span style="font-weight: 400;">epidermal growth factor</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, stimulating the immune system to create antibodies to bind to it and prevent further growth.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So far, </span><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1547478/cuban-scientists-developing-vaccine-to-combat-lung-cancer/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5,000 people worldwide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have been treated with CIMAVax. Though results have varied, the most promising trial showed that patients who took the drug lived </span><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1547478/cuban-scientists-developing-vaccine-to-combat-lung-cancer/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">11 months longer </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">than those who did not undergo treatment.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">CIMAVax’s provenance in Cuba isn’t exactly surprising: The island country has long been recognized for the quality of its public healthcare system, which focuses on prevention rather than market competition for pharmaceuticals. As a 2015 report by the World Health Organization </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/health/cancer-vaccine-cuba-medical-tourism.html?_r=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">observed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “In Cuba, products were developed to solve pressing health problems, unlike in other countries, where commercial interests prevailed.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the U.S. spends </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/health/lung-cancer-vaccine-cuba/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">five times</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as much money on healthcare per person as Cuba, where healthcare is free to all citizens, the lifespan of a Cuban citizen is slightly longer than that of an American — </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/health/lung-cancer-vaccine-cuba/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">80 years to 79 years</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, respectively. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, in a country known for its love of cigars, it’s not exactly surprising that lung cancer is prevalent. Though lung cancer rates are higher in the United States (it’s the leading cause of cancer deaths, with a five-year survival rate </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/10/27/in-a-first-u-s-trial-to-test-cuban-lung-cancer-vaccine/?utm_term=.80ec0594103e"><span style="font-weight: 400;">estimated at 17 percent</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">), lung cancer is the </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/health/lung-cancer-vaccine-cuba/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">third most common cancer</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in Cuba.</span></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjAzNzUyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjM0NjcyNX0.ezMdpQZgyh4a078Xm1IDmrTMgvR0RbaN2_6hVGJLQVs/img.jpg?width=980" id="baf5e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bf44f4591e50068087ddd60b49a61398" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Credit: <a href="https://assets.rbl.ms/22037527/origin.jpg">Source</a>.</small></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given CIMAVax’s preliminary success as both a vaccine and treatment for lung cancer patients, researchers hold out hope the medication could prevent other types of cancer, especially since studies have determined it has </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/02/22/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">no significant side effects</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We think it may be an effective way to prevent cancer from developing or recurring, so that’s where a lot of our team’s excitement comes in,” Dr. Lee of the Roswell Park Institute </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/health/lung-cancer-vaccine-cuba/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told CNN</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “There’s good reason to believe that this vaccine may be effective in both treating and preventing several types of cancer, including not only lung but breast, colorectal, head-and-neck, prostate and ovarian cancers, so the potential positive impact of this approach could be enormous.”</span></p>
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