Russian scientists have unveiled a breakthrough that could transform colon cancer prevention and treatment worldwide. The Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) announced that its researchers have developed a vaccine targeting colorectal cancer, one of the most common and deadly cancers globally. The vaccine, named Enteromix, is based on mRNA technology, the same method used successfully in COVID-19 vaccines, and is now ready for clinical use.

FMBA head Veronika Skvortsova revealed the development at the 10th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, which brought together more than 8,400 participants from over 75 countries. According to Skvortsova, the vaccine has undergone years of research, including three years of preclinical trials, and is showing promising results.

How The Colon Cancer Vaccine Works

Enteromix uses genetic instructions to teach the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells before they form dangerous tumors. Scientists compare it to handing the immune system a “wanted poster” of colorectal cancer cells. If such cells ever appear, the immune system attacks them immediately, preventing the tumor from growing.

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This approach was tested in lab mice bred to develop colon cancer, where the vaccine achieved a remarkable 100% success rate in preventing tumor formation. Early human trials have also been completed, with volunteers tolerating the vaccine well and no serious side effects reported.

Promising Results from Preclinical Trials

The preclinical trials revealed more than just prevention. In some test subjects, existing tumors shrank or slowed their growth by 60% to 80%, depending on the cancer type. Researchers also noted improved survival rates, sparking hope that Enteromix could be used both preventively and therapeutically in the future.

Work is already underway to develop similar vaccines for other forms of cancer, including glioblastoma (a highly aggressive brain cancer) and certain types of melanoma, including ocular melanoma, which affects the eye.

Why This Matters Globally

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, with rising incidence rates in many developing nations. In countries like Rwanda, cases have risen by more than 70% in the past decade, often affecting young patients who are diagnosed at late stages due to the lack of national screening programs. Late diagnosis makes treatment more difficult and survival rates much lower.

For regions with limited access to screening and treatment facilities, a preventive vaccine could be a public health game-changer. It could help bridge health equity gaps and save countless lives by offering a way to protect vulnerable populations before cancer takes hold.

What Lies Ahead?

Despite the excitement, scientists are cautious. History has shown that promising animal results do not always translate perfectly to humans. Large-scale Phase III clinical trials will be crucial to confirm Enteromix’s effectiveness and safety in diverse populations.

Still, Russia has announced plans to roll out the vaccine in the coming weeks, free of charge, marking an important milestone in global cancer research. If successful, Enteromix could offer hope to millions and usher in a new era where certain cancers can be prevented much like infectious diseases.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new AI model which can predict more than 100 health conditions including cancer, mental health, cardiovascular issues and death using sleep study data.

SleepFM uses polysomnography, a comprehensive sleep assessment that utilizes various sensors to record brain activity, heart activity, respiratory signals, leg movements, eye movements and more to provide an accurate prediction of future disease risk, according to the study published in Nature on January 6.

Emmanuel Mignot, Craig Reynolds Professor in Sleep Medicine and co-senior author of the study, said, "We record an amazing number of signals when we study sleep. It’s a kind of general physiology that we study for eight hours in a subject who’s completely captive. It’s very data rich."

It remains unclear when SleepFM will be commercially available to the public and whether it will be incorporated into wearable technology such as watches and phones.

How Does It Work?

The AI model has been trained on nearly 600,000 hours of sleep data collected from 65,000 participants which had been split into five-second increments to combine multiple body signals, such as brain activity, heart activity, muscle activity, pulse and breathing and understand how they relate to each other.

James Zou, PhD, associate professor of biomedical data science and co-senior author of the study commented, "One of the technical advances that we made in this work is to figure out how to harmonize all these different data modalities so they can come together to learn the same language."

After being trained to identify and link different body signals, SleepFM was taught how to understand standard sleep analysis tasks such as different stages of sleep and diagnosing the severity of sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts often due to airway blockage or the brain failing to signal muscles.

Once the model was seen successfully identifying sleep-related issues, it was paired with the sleep recordings and health data of 35,000 patients collected over 25 years for it to learn how to identify chronic diseases through nighttime body signals.

Which Diseases Can It Accurately Predict?

Particularly, SleepFM excelled at predicting Parkinson’s disease, dementia, hypertensive heart disease, heart attack, prostate cancer, breast cancer and death.

“We were pleasantly surprised that for a pretty diverse set of conditions, the model is able to make informative predictions,” Zou said.

Even though heart signals were prominently used to predict heart disease and brain signals were predominant in mental health predictions, the researchers noted that it was the combination of all the data modalities that achieved the most accurate predictions.

“The most information we got for predicting disease was by contrasting the different channels. Body constituents that were out of sync. A brain that looks asleep but a heart that looks awake, for example, seemed to spell trouble,” Mignot said.

Zhou added, "From an AI perspective, sleep is relatively understudied. There’s a lot of other AI work that’s looking at pathology or cardiology, but relatively little looking at sleep, despite sleep being such an important part of life.

"SleepFM is essentially learning the language of sleep."

A 24-year-old man living with dementia who passed away shortly after Christmas has donated his brain to medical research. Andre Yarham, from Dereham in Norfolk, was only 22 when his family first became concerned. His mother, Samantha Fairbairn, noticed changes in his memory and behaviour, including moments that felt out of character.

After medical consultations, Andre was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare condition linked to an abnormal protein mutation. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Fairbairn said her son made the decision to donate his brain in the hope that future families might be spared the same pain. “If this helps even one family spend a little more time with someone they love, then it means something,” she said, describing dementia as a “cruel disease.”

UK’s Youngest Dementia Patient Dies At 24, Leaves Brain To Science

Brain scans later showed unusual shrinkage, prompting a referral to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where doctors confirmed the diagnosis. Ms Fairbairn told the BBC she experienced “so many emotions, anger, grief, and deep sadness for him.” She also stressed that dementia is not limited by age, saying it “doesn’t discriminate,” and adding that Andre was likely among the youngest patients diagnosed in the UK.

As his condition progressed, he moved into a care home in September last year when his needs became too complex for his family. Within weeks, he was using a wheelchair. Andre died on 27 December, and his brain has since been donated to Addenbrooke’s Hospital to support ongoing research.

In the final month of his life, Andre lost the ability to speak and could only make sounds. Even so, his mother said his core self remained. He held on to “his personality, his humour, his laughter, and his smile” until the end, according to The Independent.

Youngest Dementia Sufferer Dies: What Is Frontotemporal Dementia?

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) refers to a group of uncommon, progressive brain disorders that cause nerve cell damage in the frontal and temporal lobes. This leads to changes in behaviour, personality, language, and sometimes movement. The condition often begins earlier than Alzheimer’s disease, typically between ages 45 and 65, and may present with symptoms such as impulsivity, emotional withdrawal, socially inappropriate actions, or speech difficulties. Memory loss is not always the earliest sign. There is currently no cure, although treatments can help manage symptoms, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

FTD is considered rare and most often affects middle-aged adults, but in exceptional cases, it can occur much earlier in life. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, which usually begins with memory decline, FTD is more likely to start with noticeable changes in behaviour or personality.

Youngest Dementia Sufferer Dies: Symptoms of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)

Symptoms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) commonly include marked changes in personality and behaviour, such as apathy, impulsive actions, loss of empathy, reduced social awareness, repetitive behaviours, and neglect of personal care. Language problems are also common, including trouble finding words, understanding speech, or speaking clearly. Some people develop movement-related symptoms like stiffness, slowed movements, or tremors, as well as changes in eating habits or appetite. These symptoms gradually interfere with relationships and daily life as nerve cells in the frontal and temporal areas of the brain deteriorate, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Dementia is an incredibly cruel disease, truly cruel,” Andre’s mother said. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. With cancer, people can have treatment, they can go into remission, and they can still live meaningful lives. With dementia, there’s nothing like that.”

Dozens of Greater Noida residents, including children and teenagers aged 12 to 15, have been found suffering from vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, headaches and fever after allegedly consuming water mixed with sewage for the last three days.

Dr Narayan Kishore, CMS, CHC Kasna, told Times of India that over 30 residents of Sector Delta 1 received treatment for the condition at a medical camp. "Around 30 people visited the doctors, of them five to six were given medicines, while others were advised ORS. The situation is under control, and if required, we will organize another camp," he said.

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According to Manoj Choudhary, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) Assistant Manager (water department), a dilapidated section of a water pipeline in Block C was found leaking and was repaired immediately by January 7 afternoon. He said inspections were also carried out in other parts of the sector, where two additional leaking pipelines were identified and replaced.

"We checked the quality of water supply post repairs in the evening and found it to be normal," he told TOI.

Despite claims of repairs, affected residents have revealed that the damaged water pipeline has instead been diverted into a drain and sewage is being mixed into a leaking water supply pipeline that runs through the same channel.

Deepak Kumar Bhati, convenor of the sector's RWA said, "Instead of repairing the blocked sewer line, it was diverted into a drain. The uncovered manhole allowed dirty water to seep into an old leaking water pipeline, contaminating the drinking supply. How would anyone feel knowing the water they drink and bathe in is mixed with feces?

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"We pay our bills yet are forced to use contaminated water."

Pramod Bhati, RWA President of Sector Delta 1, added that this was not the first time residents in the area had fallen ill due to contaminated water. According to the official, the recent incident marks the third time such damage has been reported within a week in the sector that houses around 20,000 people across its six blocks, A to F.

What Officials Are Doing To Deal With The Issue?

He added that GNIDA teams are working continuously to maintain water supply lines and that proposals are being prepared to replace pipelines in older sectors facing persistent problems.

Moreover, Ravi Kumar, GNIDA CEO NG has ordered random water testing across Greater Noida to prevent similar incidents and ensure the safety of the water supply, according to News18.

The Indore Crisis?

However, locals claim that the outbreak has instead caused the death of 17 residents, including a six-month-child. The situation has also left Parvati Bai, 67, with kidney failure, a brain stroke and symptoms of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or GBS.

GBS is a rare condition where your immune system attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis as well as death, in certain cases.

The outbreak occurred due to lapses in civic infrastructure. Investigation revealed that a toilet constructed directly above a main drinking pipeline near a police outpost, without a mandatory safety tank resulted in the sewage mixing with drinking water.