The Russian Ministry of Health has announced a new cancer vaccine, projected to be available to patients by early 2025. However, scientists worldwide remain unconvinced due to a lack of published research or clinical trial data to substantiate the claims.
Professor Kingston Mills, an immunologist at Trinity College Dublin, expressed doubts to Newsweek:
“Until we see data from a clinical trial, there has to be skepticism about this. There’s nothing in scientific journals that I can see about it. That’s where you usually would start reading, as a scientist, about a breakthrough.”
Although Mills acknowledges the concept of cancer vaccines is valid, he questioned the vague description of the Russian vaccine as targeting “cancer” without specifying the type.
“I think what doesn’t make sense is a vaccine for cancer—as we all know there are multiple cancers. Is this a universal vaccine for all cancers? I’d be very skeptical of that. I think it couldn’t be,” Mills said, adding, “What is the cancer? What is the antigen? Where is the clinical trial data?”
Dr. David Jenkinson, a childhood cancer expert at the medical research charity Life Arc, noted that certain vaccines, like the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, are already in use to prevent virus-induced cancers. However, he underscored the complexity of developing personalized cancer treatments, such as mRNA vaccines, which are tailored to the specific mutations in an individual’s tumor.
The Russian Ministry of Health, through state-owned news agency TASS, claimed the vaccine uses mRNA technology as a personalized treatment, training the immune system to target cancerous cells. While this type of treatment shows promise and is undergoing clinical trials globally, Jenkinson emphasized that concrete evidence is vital.
“mRNA vaccines work by making cells in the body produce a foreign protein,” Jenkinson explained. “These proteins are recognized by the immune system, which then produces a response to kill any cells that produce these foreign proteins. For personalized vaccines, the tumor is analyzed to identify mutated proteins, and mRNA is designed accordingly. As such, the treatment varies for each individual.”
The announcement, first reported on December 15, has sparked global interest but raises significant scientific questions that remain unanswered. Until detailed research and clinical trial results are made public, experts advise caution in evaluating the validity of this ambitious claim.
REACTIONS
There is no single cancer vaccine, it’s impossible. They may have developed a vaccine for one certain type of cancer. Although that isn’t new or groundbreaking. UK also technically has had free cancer vaccines for over 10 years
Potentially still significant. Covid brought mRNA vaccinations a long way forward, not surprising. Also, unfortunately, just having a look and knowing Putin/Russia, this is more likely a widespread human clinical trial lol. There’s a similar concept that’s still undergoing proper clinical trials. Much stricter controls in the EU.
Yep, just seen that they’ve said pre-clinical trials are promising, and they will be releasing the vaccine to all citizens early 2025. Nowhere near enough time between now and then for proper clinical trials.
