Just months after the White House announced plans to normalize relations with Cuba, an exciting research partnership is in the works, which just might prolong the lives of those suffering from lung cancer.
This week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo returned from a two-day trip to Cuba and he brought with him good news on the cancer front. Apparently Cuban immunologists have developed a vaccine that has proven to give patients a four to six month extension in their battle against cancer.
The agreement between Roswell Park Cancer Institute, located in Buffalo, and Cuba's Center for Molecular Immunology will bring the vaccine, Cimavax, stateside so that it can begin the process toward FDA approval. In exchange for the vaccine, the Manhattan-based software company Infor will provide much-needed healthcare software to a Cuban university. Cuomo feels the partnerships represent a new future with Cuba.
"It affirms the feeling I had coming down that normalization of relationships between our special countries is the exact right way to go," Cuomo told reporters. "There's no doubt that developing these mutual business relationships that are proven, that assist Cuba and also work for the companies, is a big part of moving forward."
The vaccine, which was released to the Cuban public in 2011, was 25 years in the making. Although it doesn't function like a traditional vaccine, which is usually given to prevent infection, Cimavax is administered to patients already suffering from lung cancer. It works by targeting a specific hormone, epidermal growth factor (EGF), which encourages the growth of tumors. The vaccine creates a protein that initiates an attack on EGF, subsequently starving the tumor and halting its growth. The vaccine is given as an ongoing regiment, once a month.
Dr. Elizabeth Mittendorf, an immunotherapy expert and associate professor in the department of surgical oncology at MD Anderson in Houston, told ABC News that plans for the vaccine to be tested in the U.S. are "exciting."
"Politics certainly should not prohibit good science from being further evaluated," said Mittendorf, who reiterated that the vaccine will need to be tested in accordance with rigorous FDA safety trials before it can help patients.
