Systemic Cancer Therapy Does Not Significantly Impact Early Vaccine-Elicited SARS-CoV-2 Immunity in Patients with Solid Tumors

Adam T. Waickman; Joseph Lu; Corey Chase; Hengsheng Fang; Erinn McDowell; Erin Bingham; Jeffrey Bogart; Stephen Graziano; Stephen J. Thomas; Teresa Gentile

doi:10.3390/vaccines10050738

Vaccines (May 2022)

Systemic Cancer Therapy Does Not Significantly Impact Early Vaccine-Elicited SARS-CoV-2 Immunity in Patients with Solid Tumors

Adam T. Waickman,
Joseph Lu,
Corey Chase,
Hengsheng Fang,
Erinn McDowell,
Erin Bingham,
Jeffrey Bogart,
Stephen Graziano,
Stephen J. Thomas,
Teresa Gentile

Affiliations

Adam T. Waickman: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Joseph Lu: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Corey Chase: Department of Hematology and Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Hengsheng Fang: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Erinn McDowell: Department of Hematology and Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Erin Bingham: Department of Hematology and Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Jeffrey Bogart: Department of Medical Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Stephen Graziano: Department of Hematology and Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Stephen J. Thomas: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Teresa Gentile: Department of Hematology and Oncology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050738
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 5
p. 738

Abstract

Read online

mRNA vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in individuals with cancer. It is unclear, however, if systemic anti-cancer therapy impacts the coordinated cellular and humoral immune responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-elicited immunity in a cohort of patients with advanced solid tumors either under observation or receiving systemic anti-cancer therapy. This analysis revealed that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-elicited cellular and humoral immunity was not significantly different in individuals with cancer receiving systemic anti-cancer therapy relative to individuals under observation. Furthermore, even though some patients exhibited suboptimal antibody titers after vaccination, SARS-CoV-2 specific cellular immune responses were still detected. These data suggest that antibody titers offer an incomplete picture of vaccine-elicited SARS-CoV-2 immunity in cancer patients undergoing active systemic anti-cancer therapy, and that vaccine-elicited cellular immunity exists even in the absence of significant quantities of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies.

Published in Vaccines

ISSN: 2076-393X (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords