[NYTr] Cuba-Malaysia to Test Vaccine Against Cancer

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles


Cuba-Malaysia to Test Vaccine Against Cancer

Havana, July 23(acn) Malaysia and Cuba will shortly start in Kuala 
Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, the clinical trials of a vaccine aimed to 
improve life quality of patients with terminal cancer.

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.