Srinagar, Sep 8: Amidst a barrage of bad news this year, Russia has shared news hailed as a medical breakthrough, a development that could change the fates in years to come. An mRNA-based cancer vaccine, named Enteromix, according to Russian health officials, has achieved remarkable results in early clinical trials.
The vaccine promises ‘100% efficacy’ in targeting colorectal cancer and significant tumor regression in some other cancers.
The vaccine has been developed by the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) and the Gamaleya Center. Apart from Colorectal cancers, it has also been tested on other tumors like melanoma and glioblastoma. It will be available for wider clinical use by late 2025, as per the announcements. Treatment will be provided free of charge to Russian patients. The development is being hailed as a milestone in personalized medicine – where the vaccine is tailored to an individual’s tumor mutations using mRNA technology. Russia has highlighted three years of trials and stated that the vaccine has “safety and high efficacy”.
Results of 60-80 per cent tumor shrinkage and improved survival rates have taken the world by storm.
Prof. Omar Javed Shah, former Director SKIMS Soura and a Gastroenterologist of international repute echoed cautious optimism. “It is a development worth celebrating and a significant step in personalized cancer therapy. However, it is crucial to recognize its major limitations – it’s inability to prevent cancer,” he said. He said the vaccine has the potential to treat cancers such as melanoma (skin cancer), glioblastoma (malignant brain tumor) and colorectal cancers which affect millions of people worldwide. Prof Shah hoped for more research into cancer treatments, especially cancers linked to Gastrointestinal tract, that have plagued J&K especially. “The vaccine, it is said, has the ability to regress the highly malignant tumors by up to 80%,” he said, adding that it holds great promise for personalized cancer treatment. “These findings could herald a major breakthrough in the treatment of cancer.”
However, the announcement has also been met with skepticism from many international experts. Some have called it “too good to be true” without peer-reviewed data or independent verification. Professor Kingston Mills, a prominent immunologist, has expressed doubtabout the claims regarding efficacy, in absence of peer reviewed literature. He has stated that while mRNA vaccines show promise, Russia’s rapid rollout raises concerns given the lack of published scientific papers.
Russia has positioned Enteromix as a world-first mRNA cancer vaccine. Some critics however call this claim misleading stating that many multinational pharma giants like Moderna, BioNTech, and Merck are also in the concluding phases of their trials of similar vaccines. The news however has signaled a fresh wave of efforts to tailor-treat cancers. Whether Enteromix will live up to the hype? Only time and data can tell.
