The first melanoma patient treated with Neooncovac is feeling well and has developed the required immune response
The first patient to receive Russia’s personalized melanoma vaccine is feeling well and has developed the immune response needed to fight the disease, said Aleksandr Ginzburg, the scientific director of the Gamaleya Research Institute, which helped develop the treatment.
Last year, the Russian Health Ministry approved two domestically developed personalized cancer treatments: an mRNA-based vaccine for advanced melanoma named Neooncovac and a peptide medicine targeting colorectal cancer dubbed Oncopept.
Neooncovac was administered to its first patient in April. The recipient is a 60-year-old man with stage-three melanoma and metastases, who is being treated at the Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute.
According to Ginzburg, the patient is “feeling completely normal” and continuing treatment. Tests have shown “very positive” immunological responses, with the body producing the active compounds needed for the immune system to fight the tumor and its metastases, he told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The patient is expected to receive two further doses of the medicine. His immune response will continue to be monitored throughout the treatment, Ginzburg said.
He also announced that personalized melanoma vaccines are being prepared for ten more patients and should be ready within one-and-a-half to three months.
Andrey Kaprin, head of the National Medical Research Center of Radiology, previously described the technology used to develop the vaccine as a fundamentally different approach to cancer treatment. Rather than simply treating the disease, the method is intended to teach the immune system to identify and destroy the cells posing a threat, he said.
Samples of the patient’s tumor and healthy tissue are used to analyze their genetic characteristics and create a customized vaccine designed to train the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Russian health officials have meanwhile reported that patients receiving Oncopept have also developed the required immune response. The Gamaleya Institute is additionally working on treatments for pancreatic, kidney, and non-small cell lung cancer.
