By IANS/EFE,
Havana : A therapeutic vaccine for advanced lung cancer, which was created by scientists at Cuba’s Centre for Molecular Immunology, will be tested in Britain.
The medication, which was prepared after 15 years of research by Cuban scientists, was administered with good results to more than 1,000 patients in the island.
The product has also been registered in Peru and is in the process of registration in other Latin American countries, including Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador and Argentina.
Tests are also being planned in Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Britain will perform clinical trials in the coming weeks for the Cimavax-EGF, said a source from Cuba’s pharmaceutical sector.
According to the Cuban experts, the vaccine cannot prevent the onset of cancer but will allow advanced cancer to be controlled by generating antibodies against the proteins that trigger the uncontrollable processes of cellular proliferation.
Project director Gisela Gonzalez earlier said that the vaccine was safe, has no severe side effects and increases the patient’s life expectancy.
According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is the No.1 cause of mortality worldwide, and lung cancer is one of the most frequently occurring types.
Around 7.6 million people are estimated to have died of cancer in 2008, a figure that will increase to about 11 million in 2030.