Cuba approves drug treatment for lung cancer

Cuba – Battling cancer with biotechnology
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Cuba, after cardiovascular diseases. It is estimated that every year about 21 000 people die of cancer on the island and more than 31 000 cancer cases are newly diagnosed.Cancer is one of the major killers in Cuba. This is partly because people live longer but also because many have adopted unhealthy lifestyles. Too many people use alcohol harmfully, eat unhealthily and use tobacco,” says Dr José Luis Di Fabio, the head of the WHO Country Office in Cuba. “Among men, prostate and lung cancers are the most common types of cancer, Lung Cancer Treatment and among women breast and cervical cancer are at the top of the list.”

• In a certain lung cancer (not all lung cancers), the cells require a signal gone haywire to keep growing. The particular signal in this case is called EGF, a critical signal to make cells divide. Cancer cells love to divide.
• The vaccine works by creating antibodies, the immune system’s soldiers, that are specifically targeted to EGF. By sopping up all the EGF around a tumor cell, they prevent that key signal from causing the tumor to grow.
• When that is combined with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, the idea is that you could prevent a tumor from coming back.

Cuba - Investing In Biotechnology To Battle Cancer
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 31,000 new cancer diagnoses are made in Cuba each year, and that 21,000 patients die of the disease annually.Dr José Luis Di Fabio, the head of the WHO Country Office in Cuba, said:Cancer is one of the major killers in Cuba. This is partly because people live longer but also because many have adopted unhealthy lifestyles. Too many people use alcohol harmfully, eat unhealthily and use tobacco. Liver Cancer Treatments in India  Among men, prostate and lung cancers are the most common types of cancer, and among women breast and cervical cancer are at the top of the list."

Cuba Makes Cancer Treatment Breakthrough
At the 29th Havana International Fair, Cuban health researchers showed off a number of new cancer treatments. One of them, a therapeutic vaccine designed to treat tumors in lung cancer patients, is being heralded as a major breakthrough. Although the vaccine doesn’t cure cancer, it creates antibodies that make the disease manageable and provides hope for patients who were not showing any improvement from treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy.The vaccine has already been tested on 1,000 patients in Cuba and is being distributed at hospitals there free of charge. That’s a big deal for a country where smoking is part of the national culture and a leading cause of death. If it proves as successful as researchers say it is, it should give those suffering from lung cancer reason to celebrate – just not with a Cohiba.

treatment for lung cancer
Public health officials in Cuba recently announced that they have approved a new vaccine for use against lung cancer.The drug, called Racotumomab, was developed by researchers at Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology. Racotumomab is the second therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer recently created at the center. The first, called CimaVax-EGF, is intended for patients who showed no response to other forms of treatment,