Havana, May 20 (RHC)-- Cuban health experts said in Havana that the new therapies used to fight advanced cancer could turn the disease into a chronic illness.

In statements to Prensa Latina news agency, Agustín Lage, director of the Havana-based Molecular Immunology Center, said that, thanks to the new therapies, in the near future the diagnosis and treatment of the more than 200 known types of cancer will be revolutionized. This, he added, will translate into improved quality of life and increased life expectancy of patients.

The Cuban expert pointed to the need for a new approach to advanced cancer, saying it should be considered a chronic, incurable, but controllable disease.

Agustín Lage also referred to the new Cuban therapeutic vaccine CIMAvax-EGF, the first of its kind in the world against advanced lung cancer. He said that a research study is currently underway to test the vaccine in the treatment of other types of cancer, including prostate.