Airs Wednesday, June 7 at 9:00 p.m.

One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. It kills an estimated 600,000 people a year in the U.S. and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. New, lifesaving immunotherapy drugs can be very effective, but also very costly, and FDA approval can take years. Some Americans are taking matters into their own hands—defying the U.S. embargo to seek treatment in Cuba, where doctors have developed promising cancer vaccines. Lung cancer patient George Keays has made the trip multiple times and knows it could be a matter of life and death. “I’m not looking to break the law,” he says, “but I’m also not going to die.”

How did Cuba, a small nation cut off from modern medical technology, become a world player in cancer science? Could these new treatments actually transform some cancers from a death sentence into a chronic condition, like diabetes or high blood pressure? And can scientists in Cuba and the U.S. overcome political obstacles and work together to make such treatments more widely available?

In “CUBA’S CANCER HOPE,” NOVA, a production of WGBH Boston, examines the story behind Cuba’s ingenious cancer vaccines, introduces the researchers responsible for this unexpected science, and follows a historic international partnership that could make groundbreaking cancer treatments more accessible. The one-hour special premieres Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 9pm ET/8C on PBS and will be available for streaming on the PBS video app and online at pbs.org/nova.

“Cancer presents daunting challenges—for patients and for researchers—especially in an economically isolated country like Cuba. But those challenges are inspiring some incredibly creative solutions,” says NOVA Co-Executive Producer Julia Cort. “This film tells a story of medical innovation that’s completely unknown to most people in the U.S., and at the same time does what NOVA does best, illuminating and demystifying complex science.”

NOVA traces the success of Cuba’s immunotherapy back 60 years to the time of the Cuban Revolution. When Fidel Castro installed himself as authoritarian leader in 1959, medical science was at the heart of his vision. He promised free health care, and immediately invested in creating a modern medical infrastructure for his people. When the U.S. trade embargo left Cuba isolated from medical resources in the early 1960s, Castro was forced to get creative, developing a self-sustaining medical sector to manufacture its own medicine for Cuba’s public health service.

Today, Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Havana is one of 30-plus high-tech biopharma research centers on the island, holding over two thousand patents for drugs and processes in use around the world. However, the trade embargo makes these treatments unavailable in the U.S.

But now, American patients could be on their way to gaining access to Cuban cancer treatments legally. In 2016, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center of Buffalo, New York became the first American research center to sponsor a clinical trial with a Cuban-made drug, marking a historic, first-time collaboration between Cuban and American scientists. CIMAvax-EGF—a potential breakthrough lung cancer vaccine developed at Cuba’s CIM—is already being used to treat thousands of patients in Cuba and other countries. Dr. Augustin Lage, founding director of CIM, is very aware of the importance of such collaborations. “In science, cooperation is everything,” says Lage. “So if you are isolated, you are dead in science.”

NOVA not only examines how Cuba overcame enormous obstacles to develop such advances in immunotherapy treatments, but also explores the fascinating rise of immunotherapy science—from a practice some medical textbooks once labeled akin to “witchcraft” to an approach that is rapidly becoming the standard care for cancer treatment.

In addition to scientists and researchers, viewers hear from a chorus of diverse Americans who describe how cancer has changed their world, their own lives, and the lives of those they love. Their experiences—painful, sad, surprising, shocking—provide emotional insights into the disease’s almost endless challenges.

NOVA meets patients Marta Raymos of Havana and George Keays of Boulder, Colorado, both of whom have depended for years on Cuban immunology science to keep them alive. The film follows 67-year old Keays from his home in Boulder to Havana’s La Pradera Hospital where he fills his prescription for Vaxira, another Cuban cancer vaccine. George has inoperable stage-four lung cancer. His original prognosis gave him only a few months to live. Now, nearly four years later, George is convinced Vaxirahas helped keep him alive. It’s been a difficult journey, but he’s also a tough-minded optimist. “You go from being very healthy,” he says, “and suddenly, well, you have six months to live.” He knows the U.S. embargo outlaws medical treatment in Havana for American citizens. George pays $12,000 for a year’s treatment of Vaxira. Similar immunotherapy treatment in the United States can cost $12,000 per month.

Two years after the FDA approved the clinical trial of CIMAvax-EGF, CIM and Roswell Park made history again, announcing the first-ever biotech joint venture between the United States and Cuba. The two agreed to build a new biotech facility in Cuba dedicated to cancer drugs, jointly owned by Roswell Park and CIM. Still, the embargo will continue to be one of the biggest challenges for the partnership, demonstrated by the difficulties faced in simply shipping CIMAvax-EGF safely from Havana to Buffalo. Overcoming these types of challenges will be critical for the partnership to succeed.

“If we work together to raise the quality of life of our peoples, that will bring us together,” says Dr. Kelvin Lee, Jacobs Family Chair in Immunology and Senior Vice President for Basic Science at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Science is going to move relationships forward. The promise of lifting the burden of cancer in all peoples is going to move the relationship forward.”

“Cuba’s Cancer Hope” is a NOVA production by Bluespark Collaborative, LLC for WGBH Boston. Written and directed by Llewellyn Smith. Produced by Kelly Thomson. Co-Executive Producers for NOVA are Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt. NOVA is a production of WGBH Boston.

National corporate funding for NOVA is provided by Draper. Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS viewers. Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science Trust.