The Russian government says it has developed its own cancer vaccine in what could be called the breakthrough of the century. The vaccine is expected to be launched in early 2025.
“Russia has developed its own mRNA vaccine against cancer, it will be distributed to patients free of charge, Director General of the Radiological Research Center of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Andrei Kaprin, told “Radio Russiyka,” Russian news agency TASS reports.
“Preclinical trials of the vaccine have shown that it suppresses tumor development and possible metastases,” said the director Gamaleya National Research Center Candidate of epidemiology and microbiology Alexander Ginzburg told TASS about this.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised comments that “we have come very close to creating so-called next-generation cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs.”
AI can develop vaccines in an hour
During the vaccine trials, Ginzburg told the media that the use artificial neural networks could reduce the computation time required to create a personalized cancer vaccine, which is currently a lengthy process, to less than an hour.
“It’s been building for quite some time now [personalized vaccines] because matrix methods are used to calculate what a vaccine or customized mRNA should look like, in mathematical terms. We have engaged the Ivannikov Institute, which will rely on artificial intelligence to perform this mathematics, namely neural computing, where these procedures should take from half an hour to an hour,” said the Russian head of vaccines.
The role of the vaccine in the treatment of cancer
Vaccines can fight cancer by stimulating the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. Therapeutic cancer vaccines target specific proteins or antigens expressed by tumor cells, teaching the immune system to identify and destroy them. For example, some vaccines use weakened or modified viruses to deliver these antigens, which elicits a strong immune response. Preventive vaccines, like the HPV vaccine, protect against viruses associated with cancer, reducing the risk of certain cancers, such as cervical cancer. By enhancing the body’s natural defenses, vaccines can slow tumor growth, prevent recurrences, or even eliminate cancer at an early stage, offering a promising tool in oncology.
