Treatment of Cancer
Cuban researchers and scientists have recently made significant progress in their search for new cancer treatments. These modern treatments have significantly increased long-term survival rates in cancer patients. Specialized Oncology is carried out at La Pradera (non-surgical). Surgical cases would be mainly treated at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the National Institute of Oncology and Radiology (INOR) and the Medical-Surgical Research Center (CIMEQ), all located in Havana. Additional hospitals developed oncology programs in other provinces of the country, including Matanzas (2019), Artemisa (2020), and Ciego de Avila (2020).
Cuba is known the world over for its lung cancer therapies. Cuba offers a comprehensive treatment for people with non-small cell lung cancer in advanced stages (IIIB and IV), after the first line onco-specific treatment of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, with the therapeutic vaccine CIMAVAX – EGF®, which is based on immunotherapy, a procedure that stimulates the body’s immune system. More than 1,000 patients have been treated with this vaccine, the result of more than fifteen years of research. This vaccine targets the tumor-related system and does not cause severe adverse effects associated with radio or chemotherapy. Experts from the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) assure that the vaccine allows turning advanced cancer into a controllable chronic disease. it can also be used as a chronic treatment that increases the patient’s life expectancy and quality.
The treatment with Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutic Vaccines is used in Cuba for the treatment of some types of cancer:
- Lung cancer treatment is only used in cases of non-small cell cancer. These are the vaccines CIMAVAX and VAXIRA (Racotumumab).
- Brain, head and neck cancer, the therapeutic vaccine CIMAHER (Nimotuzumab) is employed. It is only used in primary tumors.
- Vidatox: alternative therapy against cancer with natural products The treatment requires admission with a companion. It is administered intramuscularly. It consists of an induction phase that begins with the administration of the first five doses for 14 days and a maintenance phase that includes re-immunizations every 28 days, which will be maintained until the patient's condition allows it.
Immunotherapy for skin cancer (HeberFERON)
Cuba has advanced an all-new, one-of-a-kind medicine called HeberFERON® for skin cancer patients. This drug developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology – with more than 20 years of research and clinical trials – consists of the synergic combination of recombinant human alpha and gamma Immunoferon. It is indicated for the treatment of basal cell carcinomas, in lesions of any size and location, including high-risk areas, the H-zone of the face, or those locally advanced and difficult to treat due to their proximity to the eyes or the brain. Among its greatest advantages is the fact that it heals the lesions and reduces the tumor mass, provokes a faster therapeutic response, extends the response to treatment for at least five years, reduces the frequency of new lesions by eight times, avoids complex surgeries in the area around the eyes and their after-effects, and generally improves the patient’s quality of life. Dr. Katherine Batista Ochoa, dermatologist in the province of Holguín, says that Holguín treated 224 patients in 2019, 80% of whom responded positively.
Immunotherapy for head and neck cancer (CIMAher)
Cuba offers the possibility to people from all over the world to access a complete therapeutic program for patients with different head and neck tumors. CIMAher® (Nimotuzumab) is a humanized monoclonal antibody for the treatment of some cancer sites, developed by the Center for Molecular Immunology in Cuba. Its combination with conventional treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy has been shown to improve the objective response to the disease by 70-100%. The HR3 antibody is obtained by genetic engineering and acts on the immune system, activating it. This, in turn, controls the growth of tumor cells, slowing them down. One of its main advantages is that it preferentially recognizes tumor cells and not normal tissue and can be used in combination with other cancer therapies (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) or alone.
CIMAher® is currently registered for the treatment of naso-pharyngeal tumors, esophageal tumors, pancreatic tumors, and non-small cell lung cancer.
It is registered for the following indications:
- Treatment of advanced stage head and neck tumors in combination with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.
- Treatment of highly malignant astrocytoma as monotherapy in children refractory to oncospecific treatment.
- Treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, in combination with radiotherapy, in adult patients.
- Treatment of inoperable malignant esophageal tumors of epithelial origin, in combination with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.
Among the salient features of cancer control in Cuba are the simultaneous development of a primary care network with abundant human resources and a national biotechnology industry with capacity to provide both generic and innovating drugs and diagnostic systems. The program intentionally assumes the goal of accelerating the transformation of advanced cancer into a chronic disease susceptible of long-term control.
