Russia develops cancer vaccines with 100% success rate Enteromix mRNA vaccine shows promise against colorectal and other cancers.
Russia develops cancer vaccines
Science Behind the Breakthrough
Enteromix vaccine is a customized therapeutic vaccine, i.e. it is intended to cure an existing cancer, not to prevent as in the case of the HPV vaccine. The technology is founded on a mRNA platform with which COVID-19 vaccines are developed, albeit with a twist. Rather than attacking a virus, Enteromax attacks genetic material (mRNA) harvested out of the own tumor cells of a patient. A blueprint based on this mRNA is created to educate the immune system of the patient to identify and kill particular tumor cells.
The vaccine is based on two actions: it does not only teach the immune system to attack the cancerous cells, but it also involves a combination of four non-pathogenic viruses that kills malignant tumors directly. It is a two-pronged approach that will offer a more extensive and effective anti-cancer effect.
One aspect of Enteromix vaccine is that it is personalized. The vaccine is individual-specific to the tumor since a unique genetic profile of the cancer is known of each person. This enables a highly focused immune response, reducing the chances that a one-size-fits-all approach will occur with frequently resulting off-target effects.
What the Trial Results Are and What They Mean
According to reports made in the FMBA, the vaccine has already passed preclinical trials and preliminary Phase I clinical trials involving a small number of 48 volunteers. According to FMBA head Veronika Skvortsova, the results state a 100 percent success in avoiding malignant tumor in preclinical animal research.
But it is important to put these results in perspective. What is a very promising 100 percent success rate in animal studies cannot necessarily be the same with humans. Reportedly, the first human trials have indicated earlier that the vaccine was safe and well-tolerated with no serious side effects, but this is only the beginning. A Phase I trial is focused more on the safety of a new drug and the right dosage rather than its effectiveness.
According to Skvortsova in the clinical trials, tumor size and delay in tumor progression was reduced by the vaccine in 60-80 percent of cases with an improvement in survival rates. Although these are good outcomes in an early trial stage, they cannot be compared with a 100% cure rate.
The international scientific community is responding both with enthusiasm and a sense of reservations. Although admittedly, the technology can be called innovative, specialists emphasize that the real challenge will be large-scale Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, which require hundreds or even thousands of patients representing different populations. Such trials will deliver the data necessary to demonstrate the efficacy of the vaccine over a long period and consensus it with the current treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation.
The Road Ahead
Enteromix vaccine is the first vaccine of colorectal cancer, which is among the top causes of cancer-related mortality in this planet. Moreover, Russian researchers are already working on the versions of the vaccine to fight against other aggressive cancers, such as glioblastoma (type of cancer of the brain) and a particular melanoma.
The vaccine is now said to have been prepared to pass regulatory control of the Russian Ministry of Health. With its approval, it would become an epic accomplishment, which would probably become the first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine on the market in the world. Another sign of the Russian government to make this innovative therapy accessible to the citizens is the announcement that the vaccine will be provided without costs to the Russian citizens.
Although the headline of 100% success rate is eye catching, patients and the general population should not be carried off the ground but rather get the reality of the scientific process. The Russian cancer vaccine is the leap forward in immunotherapy and hope of cancer patients. Nevertheless, it is a very promising but unproven intervention until the results are independently confirmed by rigorous and large-scale trials and reported in peer-reviewed journals.
The Two-Pronged Mechanism of Action
Although the mRNA component is most frequently emphasized, the Enteromix vaccine consists of two, different, but complementary, therapeutic methods. Developers at the National Medical Research Radiology Centre call it a personalized mRNA vaccine as well as an oncolytic virus vaccine. Such a two-fold mechanism is one of the major innovations.
The oncolytic part incorporates four non-pathogenic viruses which are specifically designed to penetrate and kill cancer cells. This viral attack assists in releasing cancer specific proteins into the dying cells, and this helps to further prime the immune system. At the same time, the individualized mRNA component of the vaccine teaches the body to generate neoantigens, in other words, a long-lasting immune response. This complex is designed to kill the cancer cells directly as well as generate an efficient long-term immune memory that prevents reoccurrence.
Specific Cancer Targets
Enteromix vaccine is first focused on colorectal cancer, a phenomenally widespread and fatal type of the disease. Nevertheless, scientists do not limit themselves to that. They are also busy coming up and testing variants of the vaccine on other aggressive and difficult to treat cancers. They include glioblastoma, which is a brain cancer that is especially deadly and certain types of melanoma such as ocular melanoma.
The multi-target methodology implies a wide field of the technology, which may take up some of the most difficult cancerous oncology. Its personalized nature is further enhanced by the fact that various versions are being developed to different types of cancer, which is unique to the genetic profile of an individual tumor, or the patient.
Performance in the Global Context and Competition
It should be mentioned that Russia is not the only participant in the race to a successful cancer vaccine development. Cancer immunotherapy and, in particular, mRNA-based vaccines is a highly dynamic research field throughout the world. It has personalized mRNA vaccine candidates at different clinical trial phases in other companies and research institutions, especially in the US and Europe. The fact that the Russian government stated that the vaccine is already in a clinical trial and will be offered to its people free of charge is an interesting social and geopolitical event.
Nevertheless, the scientific community is keen to get access to the complete, peer reviewed data of its clinical trials in order to adequately compare its efficacy and safety profile with other emerging therapies. The success of any of these vaccines would mark a sea change in the treatment of cancer, where wide-ranging, damaging therapy would become a thing of the past and a more focused, targeted treatment of the unique needs of the sick would become the new reality of medicine.
