MOSCOW, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Russian scientists said they may have created a vaccine against cancer that is based on cancerous cells in mice, local media reported.
Following injection with the vaccine, scientists at the Research Institute of Medical Ecology said, after one year, laboratory mice remained alive despite being injected with human cancer cells and massive doses of mouse cancer cells, the Russian television first channel reported.
Now, the scientists are testing the vaccine on volunteers. Vladimir Sologub, the creator of the vaccine, said he injected himself with such cells five years ago and the treatment seems to have inoculated him against melanoma, or skin cancer.
The vaccine uses collagen, a gel for smoothing wrinkles and creating plump lips, as a medium to confine cancer cells safely within an organism. The gel protects the cancer from attacks by the body's immune system, yet allows them to grow into a tumor.
As the tumor grows, the scientists explained, it transmits information to the immune system, which gradually develops an immunity. After several weeks, the immune system destroys the tumor and develops antibodies against this type of cancer.
