How near is the world to a cancer vaccine? Vladimir Putin says scientists are close to medical breakthrough

Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia is close to creating a vaccine to protect the human body against cancer.

Various countries have spoken of the hope of breakthroughs in vaccination technology related to cancers, but the Russian president’s comments have raised eyebrows nonetheless.

In his latest televised press conference, the Russian president claimed his country’s scientists were in advanced stages towards producing a jab against the disease.

He told a Moscow forum about the future technologies: “We have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation.

“I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy.”

Mr Putin’s comments would be revelatory but is there any truth in what he has said?

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gives an interview to journalist Pavel Zarubin (via REUTERS)

What has Vladimir Putin proposed about a cancer vaccine?

The Russian president did not give any details about which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target or how they would work.

Mr Putin has previously made bold claims in press conferences but was also speaking against the backdrop of Russian reluctance to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

During the pandemic, the country introduced its own Sputnik V inoculant which the president said he had taken himself.

Are any other countries developing a cancer vaccine?

Yes. In 2023, the UK government signed an agreement with German firm BioNTech to launch clinical trials providing “personalised cancer treatments”, aiming to reach 10,000 patients by 2030.

“The partnership will provide cancer patients with improved access to the latest cancer trials and therapies currently being developed,” a government statement read.

The vaccine is still a work in progress (PA)

“This includes UK-based clinical trials intended to help treat patients through the use of precision immunotherapies which work by stimulating the immune system to recognise and eliminate cancer cells.”

Health secretary Steve Barclay said at the time it was a “huge step forward” in the fight against cancer.

US pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck & Co are developing an experimental cancer vaccine that a mid-stage study showed it would cut the chance of recurrence or death from melanoma – the most deadly skin cancer – by half after three years of treatment.

There are currently six licensed vaccines against human papillomaviruses (HPV) that cause many cancers, including cervical cancer, according to the World Health Organisation, as well as vaccines against hepatitis B (HBV), which can lead to liver cancer.

Many countries are now researching what a cancer vaccine could mean (PA)

What has happened before with the development of a vaccine for cancer? 

It was reported earlier this month that the UK is trialling a new mRNA vaccine that could help fight cancer.

This type of treatment sees the body’s cells showing a bit of a virus’s genetic code and has been used already for Covid-19 protection.

The idea has also interested Joe Biden’s government and America is reportedly also looking into related options.

Moderna is working on the mRNA-4359 vaccine which will target advanced melanoma, lung cancer and other solid tumour cancers.

An 81-year-old man with malignant melanoma skin cancer was the first to be given the vaccine last October as part of a trial.

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