vaccine and against cancer?! Russia is announcing the start of the use of a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine in melanoma patients in the fall of 2025. The therapy will be free for patients, and the state is expected to cover the costs, estimated at approximately 300,000 rubles per person / 3,152 euros. At the same time, the name EnteroMix is also appearing in the media, which is not mRNA at all, but a viral therapy. There are already similar experiments in the world (Moderna, BioNTech), which show promising results, but there is no miraculous "cancer cure" yet. Or is it?!
Imagine an article: “Scientists have found a 100% effective cancer vaccine.” Sounds fantastic, right? But science is a stubborn lady – it doesn’t like big promises without evidence. Russia is indeed starting a new chapter in oncology, but the story is more complex (and much more interesting) than the sensational headlines suggest.
What are they actually preparing in Russia?
In the fall of 2025, the first melanoma patients in Moscow are expected to be offered personalized mRNA vaccineHow does it work?
- First, doctors take a sample of the tumor.
- Then computers and artificial intelligence look for mutations that are unique to that tumor.
- These mutations create an mRNA “blueprint” that teaches the immune system how to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Each patient thus receives their own “textbook vaccine.” In theory, it's brilliant, but in practice, it's still in its infancy.
EnteroMix: why it's not the same and is a different bug
In addition to mRNA therapies, there is also a lot of talk in Russia about the preparation EnteroMix. But this not an mRNA vaccine, but a completely different approach: a cocktail of four safe viruses that attack the tumor and at the same time trigger an immune response. It is currently still in early testing. However, many foreign media have mixed the two things up, so today on There is a lot of confusion circulating online..
Price and access: medical luxury at the expense of the state
The therapy is supposed to be free for patients, with the costs covered by the state – approximately 300,000 rubles / 3,152 euros per patient. It sounds nice, but realistically it means that it will initially only be available to a limited number of people in specialized centers in Moscow.
How is the world doing in this area?
Russia is not alone. In the US and Europe, companies like Modern and BioNTech, are already further along this path. Their mRNA therapies for melanoma and other cancers are showing encouraging results: in some patients, the chance of cancer recurrence has been almost halved. But these are still not universal vaccines, but individual treatments that require surgery, lengthy procedures and a lot of money.
What we don't know yet
- How effective will Russian mRNA therapies be in real people (no clinical results have been published yet).
- How many patients will actually be able to access therapy?
- How will the “experimental regime” deal with issues of security and ethics?
Conclusion: Between a breakthrough and a PR
Personalized mRNA cancer vaccine is one of the most exciting ideas in modern medicine. But even though Russia is announcing the start of its use in the fall, this does not mean that cancer will be defeated overnight. It is about a test, not a miracle.
So the next time you stumble upon bombastic title about the “vaccine that cures all cancers”, remember: science progresses in a marathon, not a sprint. And this race has only just begun.
Sources: es-us.noticias.yahoo.com
