Cancer Vaccine / Russia is nearing a big success in the fight against cancer, Putin said - close to making a vaccine

Cancer Vaccine: On hearing the name of cancer, only one thought comes – a deadly and incurable disease. Despite years of technology and progress, there is no visible reduction in deaths due to cancer. But many countries are busy finding an effective cure for it. In this episode, news has come from Russia. Russia is close to making a cancer vaccine. This information has been given by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, Putin said that Russian scientists are close to creating a vaccine for cancer which may soon be available to cancer patients.

Putin also said that Russia has come very close to the creation of cancer vaccines and new generation immunomodulatory drugs. Immunomodulators are medicines that make some changes in your immune system so that the patient gets more help in fighting any disease. However, Putin did not clarify which type of cancer the vaccine being made by Russia is for and how it will work.

Which countries are working on cancer vaccine?

There are many countries and companies that are working on cancer vaccines. Like Britain. Last year, the British government started a clinical trial for personalized cancer treatment. In collaboration with Germany-based BioNTech. UK's target is to reach ten thousand cancer patients by 2030.

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck & Company are also making cancer vaccines. This is an experimental vaccine. For example, when research was being done on such a vaccine, it was found that after three years of treatment, the chances of recurrence of the most deadly skin cancer, melanoma, or death due to it, halved.

How many cancer vaccines are there currently?

According to WHO i.e. World Health Organization, currently there are six licensed vaccines against Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Human papillomavirus causes many cancers including cervical cancer. Apart from this, there is also a vaccine against Hepatitis B which can cause liver cancer.

Made own vaccine during Covid

During the coronavirus pandemic, Russia created its own vaccine against Covid 19. Named Sputnik V. Russia developed it and sold it to many countries. However, Sputnik V has struggled to gain widespread acceptance within Russia. Putin himself took Sputnik V to assure people of the vaccine's efficacy and safety.

How many deaths due to cancer worldwide?

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. More than 1 crore deaths have occurred due to this disease in 2020. There are many such cases which were not even reported. According to data from the National Cancer Registry Program of the Indian Council of Medical Research, India alone saw about 14 lakh new cases of cancer in 2022, and about 9 lakh people lost their lives due to the disease.