When it comes to the health of humans, political ideologies don’t matter, or at least that’s what we’re being shown, since the new Cuban developed cancer vaccine welcomes the conquest of American people. Americans have just discovered how Cubans can treat cancer efficiently with a vaccine literally distributed for free in Cuba since 2011.

This is of course a fertile soil for the civilized to take positions and offer a costly value to the precious finding. Diplomatic hostilities between Cuba and US are slowly sweetened by pretty pictures and valuable discoveries. The Cuban goldmine has made the Americans leave their guards off and embrace the limitless boundaries of culture and science. They are on their way to reveal a secret and make the world pay for it. The benefit in this story is that more people will have the chance to be allowed the treatment.

Sticking to the good side of the story, American researchers are now permitted to have access to a recipe that could save millions of human lives. Research institutes from the US will take over the small pharmaceutical laboratories in Cuba and develop what appears to be a very efficient medication for lung cancer patients.

Health policies in Cuba have allowed very serious budgets to the research and development of a vaccine that could help lung cancer patients recover their health.

The vaccine is called CimaVax and has been researched in Cuba for over 25 years. Its effects were shown in 50% of cases, where patients had been reported with reduced tumors and strengthened antibodies. It proved effective for increased survival if the study participant was younger than 60, findings show.

This vaccine successfully treated 5000 people worldwide and 1000 people were cured in Cuba only.

These precious insights had as result the beginning of a beautiful friendship between US and Cuba. The Cuban Country Center for Molecular Immunology signed an agreement with Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, to import CimaVax and begin clinical trials in the US, according to The Independent.

The treatment developed efficiently in Cuba due to wise health policies in the Cuban system. It appears that during the economic blockade they suffered and after an outburst of serious disease outbreaks, Fidel Castro invested a large part of the national budget into biotechnology and medical research. The results were of course, productive, efficient and beneficial.

With the land of most productive, efficient and beneficial people finding a cancer treatment and developing it, the world can become a better place. Further research is awaited along with a continuous string of good news in the health direction.

Image Source: wikimedia.org

Roche Holding AG has started an experimental immunotherapy trial that has reached his mid-stage with very good results among lung cancer patients. With the new treatment that is still in the research and development stage, lung cancer patients with highest level of certain biomarkers have 50% more chances of survival.

The drug called MPFL2380A is a small part of new class designed to adjust the body’s immune system to fight off cancer by blocking a protein also known as Programmed Death Receptor ( PD-1), used by tumors to evade the body’s defense system.

Studies have experimented the treatment on 287 patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer. The Roche therapy reduced the risk by 53% in those with the highest levels of a certain biomarker, compared to those treated with classical chemotherapy methods.

An optimistic report was released for patients who had low levels of PD-L1, another protein that allows tumors to escape our body’s immune system. Patients with low levels of PD-L1 have increased chances of survival thanks to the new therapy that will soon be available on the market for larger masses of people.

“The greater the expression of PD-L1, the greater the benefit”, commented Sandra Holding, chief medical officer at Roche’s Genentech unit.

This is great news appearing before the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where further details on the treatment and its effects will be unveiled. The present update was provided in a scientific summary, to probably prepare members for intense debate during the meeting.

Beyond its beneficial effects, the new treatment in lung cancer was also described as highly tolerated by patients. Few respiratory events were reported, with no other violent outbursts of side effects.  Compared to the effects of chemotherapy, the MPFL2380A is better assimilated by cancer patients.

The medicine allows for tumors to shrink and eventually disappear and cease development in human bodies.

Tumors in people whose cancer had spread to the central nervous system were shrunk thanks to the new therapies envisioned by the pharmaceutical giants. Alectinib is the active substance that reacts with the components of a benign tumor and shrinks it considerably. More than 69% of patients with cancer spread to the brain or other parts of the central nervous system benefitted from a substantial health improvement after the Alectinib therapy.

Alectinib is addressed to patients with a genetic mutation under the name of ALK, responsible for more than 5% of lung cancers. From a financial standpoint, this is a Jackpot for Roche. New sales estimates raise to 183 million Swiss francs profit gained by 2020. The drug was already approved in Japan in July.

U.S Food and Drug Administration Company will analyze all data coming from Roche reports, as soon as the pharma organization submits consistent data from both trials: Alectinib and MPFL2380A therapy.

Roche isn’t the only company that performs tests on patients suffering from cancer. Opdivo works in a similar way to find new treatments and won US approval in March for a new release. Merck had a medicine under the name of Keytruda approved in September. It is very efficient in skin cancer therapies and it is also being tested in lung cancer.

Image Source: roche.com

The Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Registry are considered the biggest as over 11 million Californians have opted and checked the organ donor box through their driver’s license applications. Today, there are still over 100,000 patients who are waiting for an eye, tissue, or organ donation.

Lompoc Valley Medical Center’s Director of Surgical Services, Sandy Price, said the organ donation does not take away the life of any donor or a loved one who already died, but, it fulfills the lives of many others who still have a life to live. Organ donations she said are very much appreciated as it helps other people out.

April is the Donate Life Month, and the Lompoc Valley Medical Center acknowledges this event locally, celebrating both the donors and the people who have received an eye, tissue, or organ.

In line with the celebration, the institution has arranged a “Wear Blue and Green Day” activity, which is scheduled on April 17, Friday. There will also be a Donate Life run or walk to be held on April 25, Saturday at the Cal State Fullerton in Southern California. The doctors urge everyone to participate as donors can be even up to 90 years of age.

Health experts are hoping that a new brain-scanning technique will help in identifying diseases linked to concussions in sports like football. Studies say that concussions are only diagnosed among people only after death. There were 14 former football players who were scanned and were at risk of the chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) condition, revealing deposits of abnormal proteins that resemble a pattern found at the autopsy of such disease.

The condition causes a progressive brain degeneration among those who have had repeated concussions and head blows with symptoms that include depression, confusion, aggression, memory loss, and progressive dementia.

There is no known cure for CTE, but a new brain-scanning approach could possibly detect the onset of the disease, allowing early and greater success of experimental treatments, according to experts. NorthShore Neurological Institute co-director, Dr. Julian Bailes said the new approach can also help the athletes make decisions on their retirement.

Dr. Joseph Maroon, not involved in the study said the results are major improvements in stepping forward to the detection of CTE before death. Thus, he suggests more investigation on the usefulness of the new technique. He also explained that the new approach can offer a more definitive answer once scientists discover a binding substance that enhances more in abnormal protein.