tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Cureus
. 2023 Apr 1;15(4):e37014.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.37014. eCollection 2023 Apr. Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Cancer Patients: A Prospective Study
Cecília Caramujo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Inês Gomes[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Teresa Fraga[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Judy Paulo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sofia Broco[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nuno Cunha[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Pedro Madeira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Teresa Carvalho[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Margarida Teixeira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gabriela Sousa[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction Cancer patients on active treatment are at increased risk of developing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), making effective immunization of the utmost importance. However, the effectiveness of vaccination in this population is still unclear. This study aims to evaluate the response against COVID-19 in a cohort of patients with active cancer under immunosuppressive therapy. Methods This was a prospective, cross-sectional, single-center study that included patients with cancer under immunosuppressive therapy vaccinated against COVID-19 between April and September 2021. Exclusion criteria were: previous known severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, single-dose vaccine or incomplete vaccination scheme. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels were assessed using 35.2 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL as the positive cut-off. Assessments were performed 14-31 days after the first and second dose and three months after the second dose. Results A total of 103 patients were included. The median age was 60 years. Most patients were being treated for gastrointestinal cancer (n=38, 36.9%), breast cancer (n=33, 32%) or head and neck cancer (n=18, 17.5%). At evaluation, 72 patients (69.9%) were being treated with palliative intent. The majority were being treated with chemotherapy (CT) alone (57.3%). At the first assessment, levels of circulating SARS-CoV-2 IgG consistent with seroconversion were present in 49 patients (47.6%). At the time of the second assessment, 91% (n=100) achieved seroconversion. Three months after the second dose, 83% (n=70) maintained levels of circulating SARS-CoV-2 IgG consistent with seroconversion. In this study, no SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported in the study population. Conclusions Our findings suggest that this group of patients had a satisfactory COVID-19 immunization response. Although promising, this study should be replicated on a wider scale in order to validate these findings.
Keywords: cancer; chemotherapy; covid-19; immune-response; sars-cov-2.
. 2023 Apr 1;15(4):e37014.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.37014. eCollection 2023 Apr. Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Cancer Patients: A Prospective Study
Cecília Caramujo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Inês Gomes[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Teresa Fraga[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Judy Paulo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sofia Broco[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nuno Cunha[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Pedro Madeira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Teresa Carvalho[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Margarida Teixeira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gabriela Sousa[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 37139023
- PMCID: PMC10151022
- DOI: 10.7759/cureus.37014
Introduction Cancer patients on active treatment are at increased risk of developing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), making effective immunization of the utmost importance. However, the effectiveness of vaccination in this population is still unclear. This study aims to evaluate the response against COVID-19 in a cohort of patients with active cancer under immunosuppressive therapy. Methods This was a prospective, cross-sectional, single-center study that included patients with cancer under immunosuppressive therapy vaccinated against COVID-19 between April and September 2021. Exclusion criteria were: previous known severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, single-dose vaccine or incomplete vaccination scheme. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels were assessed using 35.2 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL as the positive cut-off. Assessments were performed 14-31 days after the first and second dose and three months after the second dose. Results A total of 103 patients were included. The median age was 60 years. Most patients were being treated for gastrointestinal cancer (n=38, 36.9%), breast cancer (n=33, 32%) or head and neck cancer (n=18, 17.5%). At evaluation, 72 patients (69.9%) were being treated with palliative intent. The majority were being treated with chemotherapy (CT) alone (57.3%). At the first assessment, levels of circulating SARS-CoV-2 IgG consistent with seroconversion were present in 49 patients (47.6%). At the time of the second assessment, 91% (n=100) achieved seroconversion. Three months after the second dose, 83% (n=70) maintained levels of circulating SARS-CoV-2 IgG consistent with seroconversion. In this study, no SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported in the study population. Conclusions Our findings suggest that this group of patients had a satisfactory COVID-19 immunization response. Although promising, this study should be replicated on a wider scale in order to validate these findings.
Keywords: cancer; chemotherapy; covid-19; immune-response; sars-cov-2.