Israel is at the cutting edge of cancer research. Several companies and research centers have made breakthrough discoveries in treating cancer. Vaxil, a biotechnology company based in Ness Ziona, near Tel Aviv, has formulated a therapeutic cancer vaccine, now in clinical trials at Hadassah University in Jerusalem. The vaccine is being tested against a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.


Vaccines typically work by priming the body’s immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria. However, developing a vaccine for cancer poses a different challenge, “in cancer, the body knows something is not quite right but the immune system doesn’t know how to protect itself against the tumor like it does against an infection or virus. This is because cancer cells are the body’s own cells gone wrong,” says Julian Levy, the company’s CFO. Coupled with that, a cancer patient has a depressed immune system, caused both by the illness and by the treatment.” Vaxil has taken a different approach in its vaccine development. Their vaccines are developed to act more like a drug.

ImMucin, for instance, the company’s lead product, activates the immune system by “training” T-cells, immune cells that coordinate the body’s cell mediated immune response, to target cells displaying a molecule called MUC1. MUC1 is typically found only on cancer cells and not on healthy cells. T-cells will leave normal cells alone, ones not displaying MUC1, meaning there are no side effects unlike traditional cancer treatments. Almost all cancers display MUC1 on their cells, indicating that this vaccine has the potential to treat a wide variety of cancers.

In the case of advanced stage cancers, Mr. Levy indicated treatments like chemotherapy or surgery to remove a large tumor will still be needed; however, the company’s vaccine can be used to bring the cancer down to scale to assist treatment. ImMucin will be given as a shot every few months, with no side effects. The vaccine also helps to fight resistance of the cancer to treatment. Mr. Levy stated that cancers like to mutate and adapt resistance to chemotherapy. The vaccines are designed to overcome cancer resistance.

Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center, are using a drug for stroke therapy and applying it to cancer treatment. Originally published in 2009 in the peer-reviewed journal Breast Cancer Research, the scientists were studying a substance called a PARP inhibitor in protecting brain cells during a stroke but found that the substance can also eradicate breast cancer cells. At the time of publication, the team found that the drug was successful in inhibiting cancer cell growth but they didn’t exactly know the mechanism of action. In September 2011 published in BMC Cancer, the research team found the drug targets the centromere, a key component of cell division, of growing cancer cells. A Tel Aviv University’s technology transfer company, Ramot, has secured the use of the patent to develop the drug for breast cancer therapy. The researchers hope to expand study of the drug to other cancers beside breast cancer.

Cancer treatment in Israel is not limited to new drug therapies but also to breakthrough minimally invasive surgical treatment. Many surgeons, such as Dr. David Samadi of Rambam Medical Center in Haifa are using cutting edge robotic technology to perform procedures that prevent adverse effects and reduce the time the patient spends in the hospital. For instance, Dr. Samadi has pioneered a technique to remove a cancerous prostate using microscopic and robotic-guided incisions. His technique prevents sexual dysfunction and incontinence typical after prostatectomy.