Department of Biotechnology-NII has received the trademark for India’s first indigenous tumour antigen SPAG9.
- The SPAG9 antigen has received the trademark ASPAGNIITM.
- Currently, ASPAGNIITM is being used in dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapy in cervical, ovarian cancer and will also be used in breast cancer.
- India’s first indigenous tumour antigen SPAG9 was discovered by Dr Anil Suri in 1998 who is heading the Cancer Research Program at NII. In a recent development.
- The Department of Biotechnology has funded Cancer Research Program.
About cancer in India
- Cancer kills 8.51 lakh people in India every year (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2020,Globocan).
- As per World Health Organization (WHO), one in 10 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in 15 will die of cancer.
- Immunotherapy is a new approach that exploits the body’s inner capability to put up a fight against cancer.
- With this approach, either the immune system is given a boost, or the T cells are “trained’’ to identify recalcitrant cancer cells and kill them.
