Russia is quietly moving into the frontlines of oncology research, betting strongly on advanced vaccine platforms to deliver personalised cancer treatments. In a country already known for developing one of the world’ s first COVID-19 vaccines, the Gamaleya Center is now applying similar mRNA technology to tackle one of humanity’ s deadliest diseases— cancer.
The most advanced programme at the moment is a personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma, currently being developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute. Alexander Gintsburg, the institute’ s director, recently confirmed that human trials are expected to begin in September or October this year. Unlike conventional cancer treatments, this vaccine is designed specifically for each individual patient. It uses AI tools to sequence and analyse the tumour’ s unique genetic profile and then manufactures a personalised mRNA formulation to help the immune system recognise and destroy the cancer cells. Remarkably, this entire process— from sequencing to finished vaccine— can be completed in less than a week. Once injected, the vaccine is expected to trigger an immune response not only against the primary tumour but also against potential metastases throughout the body.
Experts in the field say this approach represents a significant leap forward.“ What Gamaleya is attempting mirrors some of the most cutting-edge work in the West, such as Moderna and BioNTech’ s personalised cancer vaccine programmes,” says Dr. Maria Ivanova, an independent immunooncology researcher based in Vienna.“ The real differentiator is how quickly the Russians claim they can move from tumour sequencing to vaccine formulation. If validated, that could be a game-changer in terms of scalability and patient access.”
While the mRNA programme heads into clinical trials, Russian researchers are also running a separate effort based on oncolytic viruses called EnteroMix. This candidate therapy combines four non-pathogenic viral strains that have a natural ability to selectively destroy tumour cells and stimulate anti-cancer immunity. EnteroMix entered Phase I clinical trials earlier this year, with the first 48 volunteers already enrolled across Russian medical centres. Instead of focusing on a single tumour mutation, the oncolytic approach aims to create a broader immune attack by weakening the cancer cell’ s microenvironment and priming the body’ s own defence mechanisms.
According to Dr. Alexei Smirnov, an oncovirology specialist at Moscow State University, the EnteroMix programme underscores Russia’ s dualtrack strategy.“ By pursuing both mRNA vaccines and viral immunotherapies, researchers are hedging their bets. Cancer is notoriously heterogeneous, and a onesize-fits-all solution is unlikely. The synergy between precision vaccines
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