A legacy for Obama (or necessary progress, if you prefer) of the thaw in Cuban-American relations may come in the area of cancer research, according to NewScientist‘s Will Grant (19 September 2015, paywall?):
Cancer is the second biggest cause of death in Cuba, after cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer rates are among the highest in the region, according to the World Heath Organization.
But Cuban researchers are helping lead the fight against the disease. They recently added a new weapon to the arsenal against lung cancer: Cimavax. This vaccine – designed to be given to people with cancer – encourages the immune system to attack a protein that fuels tumour growth, slowing the disease’s spread.
Along with this specific treatment comes news of how they approach research:
There is one key reason why Cuba punches above its weight in the medical research arena: research and treatment are tightly connected in the Cuban healthcare system. Writing in the journal PNAS earlier this year, a group of US neuroscientists including Mark Cohen of the University of California, Los Angeles, noted the benefits of this “two-way communication between the lay public and research scientists in the cause of public health” (doi.org/7qc). They cited large-scale population studies which “routinely achieve more than 95 per cent enrol[l]ment success”.
Partly because of this connection, the team at CIM has made significant progress with clinical trials of Cimavax. Pooled results from phase I and II clinical trials showed that those vaccinated survived for 11 months on average, while the survival rate in a control group was four to five months (Human Vaccines, doi.org/dbgtw9).
There’s more to the island than just cigars – the cause of the lung cancer motivating the vaccine – and socialism.
