Russia claimed to have created a cancer vaccineImage Credit source: Getty images
Cancer is such a disease that saving the life of its patients is still a big challenge. Scientists around the world have been searching for a vaccine for this disease for many decades. Meanwhile, Russia has claimed to have made a cancer vaccine. Vaccination with the vaccine will also be started in Russia from the new year. After the claim of making a vaccine for cancer, a ray of hope has arisen across the world regarding the prevention and treatment of this disease. Especially in a country like India, where more than 14 lakh cases of cancer are occurring every year, there is a lot of discussion about cancer vaccine. Discussion is also necessary because if Russia’s claim is correct then it will prove to be the biggest discovery of the century. On the basis of this vaccine, other countries including India will be able to make vaccines. If Russia makes this vaccine available to the world, then treatment of cancer will be easily possible.
But will the cancer vaccine really prove successful? What type of cancer will it treat? Will patients across the world including India be cured? To know the answers to many such questions, we have talked to cancer doctors of the country. These experts include Dr. Anshuman Kumar, Director of the Department of Surgical Oncology at Dharamshila Narayana Hospital, Dr. Rohit Cooper of the Department of Oncology at Max Hospital and Dr. Ajit Kumar, Professor at Rajiv Gandhi Hospital.
Now know the answers to questions related to cancer vaccine?
Question: How will the Russian vaccine eliminate cancer?
Dr. Anshuman tells that work on personalized cancer vaccine is going on not only in Russia but also in America. Such vaccines are based on mRNA technology. In these, the RNA present in the tumor present in the body of a cancer patient is used. This vaccine will create immunity against cancer and the antigen present in cancer cells will be injected into the body. Due to which the immune system will be able to recognize cancer cells and eliminate them. Dr. Kumar says that if the Russian vaccine is successful, it will prove to be a boon for cancer patients all over the world including India.
Question: Which cancer is the Russian cancer vaccine for?
Dr. Rohit Kapoor tells that this vaccine will work on the treatment of cancer. That means it is not for preventing tumor formation but for cancer patients. It is possible that it may work on all types of cancer or it may be able to treat only one or two specific types of cancer. Since there are more cases of colon and breast cancer in Russia, it is possible that it may work on these cancers only, but at present there is no clear information about this. But Russia has claimed that this vaccine will be prepared according to the individual needs of the patient.
Question: Will there be no need for chemotherapy and surgery after vaccination?
Yes, if this vaccine proves successful then patients will not need chemotherapy. Because this vaccine will attack the cancer cells and destroy them. Will surgery not be needed? In response to this question, Dr. Rohit Kapoor says that yes, cancer vaccines reduce the need for surgery. After vaccination, the risk of cancer recurring is also less. There is also research regarding this. Cervical cancer recurrence rates were lower in patients who received the HPV vaccine during surgery than in patients who did not receive the HPV vaccine during surgery.
Question: Will patients from all over the world including India be cured?
Dr. Ajit says that for now it has to be seen how true is Russia’s claim of making a cancer vaccine. If the vaccine is administered to cancer patients in Russia from the New Year and it is able to prevent this disease, then consider that it will be a big miracle in medical science. If the vaccine is successful then crores of patients in the world will be benefited. But for now it is important to see how successful the Russian vaccine is. If the vaccine is successful, cancer patients can be cured by it.
Question: Can cancer vaccine be made in India also?
Dr. Anshuman answers this question. He says that cancer vaccine can be made in India also. There are many research institutes and universities in India which are doing research on cancer vaccine. But more work is needed in this direction. Because the health budget of India’s GDP is 1.9% and out of that only 1.2% is spent on research. If it is scaled up, we can also develop such a vaccine. India should do this. Because if the vaccine is taken from abroad, its price and expense can be quite high. In such a situation, it may be difficult for the common poor people to reach the vaccine.
Question: There is a vaccine for cervical cancer also, but this cancer is not under control, so is it right to have hope from the Russian vaccine?
The answer to this question has been given by Dr. Rohit Kapoor. Dr. Kapoor says that there is an HPV vaccine for cervical cancer. Vaccination is done with this vaccine in India also, but most of the people are not aware about it. Another reason is that this vaccine is not available in most of the government hospitals and the price is high in private hospitals. Because of this people are not able to get vaccinated. In such a situation, cases of cervical cancer are increasing.
Therefore, it is important that if the Russian vaccine proves to be successful and India imports this vaccine or the vaccine is manufactured in the country itself, then people will have to be made aware about it and also the price of the vaccine will have to be kept low so that people can get it. Can.
