Achieved Success In Making Cancer Vaccine: Russia
- By Thetripurapost Web Desk, Moscow
- Dec 18, 2024
- 270
The Russian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that we have achieved success in making a cancer vaccine. Andrei Kaprin, director of the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Russian Health Ministry, gave this information on the radio. According to the Russian news agency TASS, this vaccine will be administered to Russian citizens for free from next year.
Director Andrei said that Russia has developed its own mRNA vaccine against cancer. This discovery of Russia is being considered the biggest discovery of the century. Clinical trials of the vaccine have shown that it helps in preventing the growth of tumors.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that Russia is very close to making a cancer vaccine.
mRNA or messenger-RNA is a small part of the human genetic code, which makes proteins in our cells. In simple language, it can be understood that when a virus or bacteria attacks our body, mRNA technology sends a message to our cells to make proteins to fight that virus or bacteria.
This provides our immune system with the necessary proteins it needs and antibodies are formed in our body. Its biggest advantage is that it can produce vaccines much faster than conventional vaccines. Along with this, it also strengthens the body's immunity. This is the first cancer vaccine based on mRNA technology.
Cancer specialist MD Maury Markman says that it is biologically impossible to make a vaccine for cancer. There can be no vaccine for cancer because cancer is not a disease. It is the result of thousands of different conditions in the body.
Nevertheless, vaccines play an important role in preventing some cancers. These vaccines are an important tool to protect cancer patients during treatment. Because cancer patients are at increased risk of other diseases during treatment.
The special thing about cancer vaccine is that it is never given before cancer occurs, rather it is given to those who have cancer tumors. This vaccine helps our immune system to recognize what cancer cells look like.
Why is it difficult to make a cancer vaccine?
Cancer cells are made of molecules that suppress immune cells. Even if a vaccine activates immune cells, those immune cells may not be able to enter the tumor.
Cancer cells look just like normal cells and therefore do not appear as dangerous to the immune system. This makes it difficult for the immune system to figure out which one to attack.
If the cancer antigen is present on both normal and abnormal cells, the vaccine starts attacking both. This causes great harm to the body.
Sometimes the cancer tumor is so big that the immune system is unable to fight it. Some people have a very weak immune system, due to which many people are unable to recover even after getting the vaccine.
More women than men in India have cancer. In India, 14.13 lakh new cases of cancer were reported in 2022. Of these, cancer was found in 7.22 lakh women, while 6.91 lakh men. In 2022, 9.16 lakh patients died of cancer.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) estimates that cancer patients will increase at the rate of 12% in the country in 5 years, but the biggest challenge is getting cancer at a young age. According to a research published in the Nature Journal, one of the biggest reasons for cancer at a young age is our lifestyle.
According to the data of Global Cancer Observatory, breast, prostate and thyroid cancers are the most common cancers before the age of 50. In India, the most cases of breast, mouth, uterus and lung cancers are being reported.