It may seem ironic that a country well known for its fine cigars has developed a vaccine for lung cancer, but Cuba has attracted worldwide medical attention for manufacturing a breakthrough treatment for the disease - and that treatment will reach the U.S. very soon.
In light of the improving relations between U.S. and Cuba, the latter has opened its doors to American scientists, allowing them to study and explore the medical achievements birthed in the communist state, particularly the lung cancer vaccine called Cimavax.
Contrary to the popular notion that vaccines only prevent diseases, vaccines are actually treatments that improve or strengthen the immune system in some way against a particular disease. And this is what Cimavax does.
Cimavax was developed by the Center for Molecular Immunology in Cuba to help treat lung cancer, which is the fourth leading cause of death in the country. In a nutshell, it works by stimulating the immune system to attack the tumor, making the immune system more efficient in fighting the cancer.
The vaccine accomplishes this by creating a protein that causes the immune system to attack the epidermal growth factor (EGF) hormone, which helps the tumors grow. This effectively "starves" the tumor and keeps it from growing.
"The Cimavax vaccine induces [an] immune response," explained Dr. Kelvin Lee of the Department of Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. "The tumor is being starved," he told ABC News.
Cimavax has been publicly available to Cuban citizens since 2011. Lung cancer patients get one shot every month for free, costing the Cuban government $1 per shot.
Studies have shown that the vaccine can extend the lives of lung cancer patients for four to six months.
The question in everyone's mind is, how did Cuba, where the average person earns $20 a month, develop such a breakthrough when more advanced countries didn't?
The answer is simple - the limitation of resources allowed them to be more resourceful.
"They've had to do more with less," said Candace Johnson, CEO of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
"They've had to be even more innovative with how they approach things. For over 40 years, they have had a preeminent immunology community," she told Wired.
Plus, the government puts a high priority on health care and medical research. In 1981, a dengue outbreak in Cuba affected an estimated 350,000 people, prompting the government to set up a research arm, called the Biological Front, that focuses on medical research. The Biological Front has produced locally available vaccines for hepatitis B and meningitis B, among others.
The opening up of Cuba to American researchers was part of a deal between Cuba's Center for Molecular Immunology and New York's Roswell Park Cancer Institute. New York governor Andrew Cuomo mediated the deal when he visited Havana on April for a trade mission.
The agreement involves allowing American researchers to take Cimavax and all relevant documentation to the U.S. so they can apply for an FDA approval.
Johnson told Wired, "The chance to evaluate a vaccine like this is a very exciting prospect." The researchers are hoping to get FDA approval for the first phase of their study in six to eight months.
The deal involves Cuba receiving healthcare software from Infor, a company based in Manhattan. Infor CEO told ABC News that he was impressed by the Cubans' "level of expertise in healthcare technology."
Cimavax has great potential to be tested on other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer.
Cuba's relations with other nations have been improving as well. On May 11, French President Francois Hollande met with Fidel Castro, which was the first visit of a French president to Cuba in over a century.
