The update was provided by Aleksandr Ginzburg, whose institution played a key role in developing the vaccine.
Last year, Russia’s Ministry of Health approved two cancer treatments developed by Russian scientists: an mRNA-based personalized skin cancer vaccine called Neooncovac, designed for melanoma patients, and a treatment known as Oncopept, which targets colorectal cancer.
The first dose of Neooncovac was administered in April to a 60-year-old man diagnosed with stage III melanoma that had already spread to other parts of his body. He is receiving treatment at the Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute.
According to Ginzburg, the patient is “doing well with no complications” and continues to be closely monitored by medical specialists.
Laboratory tests have shown that his body has developed a strong immune response, producing immune cells capable of attacking the cancer tumor as well as cancer cells that may have spread elsewhere in the body, Ginzburg told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The patient is expected to receive two additional doses of the vaccine, while doctors continue monitoring the development of his immune response throughout the treatment.
Ginzburg also revealed that researchers are preparing personalized skin cancer vaccines for 10 more patients. These vaccines are expected to be ready within one and a half to three months.
