Cuba-Malaysia test vaccine against cancer
- Submitted by: admin
- Health and Medicine
- Science and Technology
- 07 / 23 / 2007
Known as Epiderma Growth Factor (EGF), the vaccine was created and developed by Cuban scientists from the Molecular Immunology Center in Havana in 1992.
The trials will be conducted on 230 patients in 14 Malaysian hospitals "six of them in the capital" under the supervision of the Cancer Research Institute of Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
"Cuba-Malaysia relations go back to several years," noted Malaysian Deputy Minister of Health Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who expressed his full support for this medical initiative against cancer.
"Cuba boasts of one of the best healthcare systems in the world; we are confident of the success of the trials," pointed out Mukhriz Mahathir, president of Bioven, a company specialized in state-of-the-art technology and biological sciences.
Cuban head of the project, Dr Gisela Gonzalez Marinello, noted that the EGF is not a prophylactic vaccine, but it fights the regeneration of carcinogenic cells. It is injected once a month as a complement of traditional treatments such as the chemotherapy and the radiotherapy.
According Dr. Gonzalez, the vaccine has proven effective in previous trials carried out in Cuba, Canada and the United Kingdom, since it has extended life by up to two years in terminally ill cancer patients.
Cuban ambassador to Malaysia, Pedro Monzon Barata, said that Asian nation promotes South-South cooperation. He added the project was also possible thanks to Malaysia's political will, its excellent infrastructure and the competence of its specialists
Source: ACN
The trials will be conducted on 230 patients in 14 Malaysian hospitals "six of them in the capital" under the supervision of the Cancer Research Institute of Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
"Cuba-Malaysia relations go back to several years," noted Malaysian Deputy Minister of Health Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who expressed his full support for this medical initiative against cancer.
"Cuba boasts of one of the best healthcare systems in the world; we are confident of the success of the trials," pointed out Mukhriz Mahathir, president of Bioven, a company specialized in state-of-the-art technology and biological sciences.
Cuban head of the project, Dr Gisela Gonzalez Marinello, noted that the EGF is not a prophylactic vaccine, but it fights the regeneration of carcinogenic cells. It is injected once a month as a complement of traditional treatments such as the chemotherapy and the radiotherapy.
According Dr. Gonzalez, the vaccine has proven effective in previous trials carried out in Cuba, Canada and the United Kingdom, since it has extended life by up to two years in terminally ill cancer patients.
Cuban ambassador to Malaysia, Pedro Monzon Barata, said that Asian nation promotes South-South cooperation. He added the project was also possible thanks to Malaysia's political will, its excellent infrastructure and the competence of its specialists
Source: ACN
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