iScience (Sep 2024)
Low booster uptake in cancer patients despite health benefits
- Jane C. Figueiredo,
- Julia Levy,
- So Yung Choi,
- Alexander M. Xu,
- Noah M. Merin,
- Omid Hamid,
- Tucker Lemos,
- Nathalie Nguyen,
- Maimoona Nadri,
- Alma Gonzalez,
- Simeon Mahov,
- Justin M. Darrah,
- Jun Gong,
- Ronald L. Paquette,
- Alain C. Mita,
- Robert A. Vescio,
- Sarah J. Salvy,
- Inderjit Mehmi,
- Andrew E. Hendifar,
- Ronald Natale,
- Warren G. Tourtellotte,
- V. Krishnan Ramanujan,
- Carissa A. Huynh,
- Kimia Sobhani,
- Karen L. Reckamp,
- Akil A. Merchant
Affiliations
- Jane C. Figueiredo
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Corresponding author
- Julia Levy
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- So Yung Choi
- Biostatistics Shared Resource, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Alexander M. Xu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Noah M. Merin
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Omid Hamid
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, A Cedars-Sinai Affiliate, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA
- Tucker Lemos
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Nathalie Nguyen
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Maimoona Nadri
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Alma Gonzalez
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Simeon Mahov
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Justin M. Darrah
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Jun Gong
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Ronald L. Paquette
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Alain C. Mita
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Robert A. Vescio
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Sarah J. Salvy
- Research Center for Health Equity, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Inderjit Mehmi
- The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, A Cedars-Sinai Affiliate, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA
- Andrew E. Hendifar
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Ronald Natale
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Warren G. Tourtellotte
- Department of Neurology, Neurological Surgery and Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- V. Krishnan Ramanujan
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Carissa A. Huynh
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Kimia Sobhani
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Karen L. Reckamp
- Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Akil A. Merchant
- Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 27,
no. 9
p. 110596
Abstract
Summary: Patients with cancer are at increased risk of death from COVID-19 and have reduced immune responses to SARS-CoV2 vaccines, necessitating regular boosters. We performed comprehensive chart reviews, surveys of patients attitudes, serology for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and T cell receptor (TCR) β sequencing for cellular responses on a cohort of 982 cancer patients receiving active cancer therapy accrued between November-3-2020 and Mar-31-2023. We found that 92 · 3% of patients received the primer vaccine, 70 · 8% received one monovalent booster, but only 30 · 1% received a bivalent booster. Booster uptake was lower under age 50, and among African American or Hispanic patients. Nearly all patients seroconverted after 2+ booster vaccinations (>99%) and improved cellular responses, demonstrating that repeated boosters could overcome poor response to vaccination. Receipt of booster vaccinations was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 0 · 61, p = 0 · 024). Booster uptake in high-risk cancer patients remains low and strategies to encourage booster uptake are needed.
