COVID-19 Vaccines Are Effective and Safe for Patients With Thoracic Cancer

COVID-19 vaccines are effective and safe in individuals with thoracic cancer and most individuals are immunized after 2 doses, results of a study show.

After 6 to 7 months, just 8 of 283 individuals with lung cancer contracted proven symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection with rapid favorable evolution.

After 14 days following the second dose, 17 individuals were still negative, while 34 were using a pseudo-neutralization assay.

The third shot given to 11% of individuals with persistent low antibody titers resulted in an 88% immunization rate.

The study included 306 individuals with lung cancer with a median age of 67 years, and 283 of the individuals received 2 vaccine doses at 28-day intervals.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies were measured using Abbot ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG immunoassay, prior to first injection of the mRNA vaccines, after the fourth week, and 2 to 16 weeks after the second vaccine dose.

Only age, chemotherapy as last systemic treatment within 3 months, and chronic corticosteroid treatment were significantly associated with a lack of immunization. and 30 individuals received a third vaccine dose, with just 3 showing persistent negative serology.

No anaphylaxis reactions occurred among all the individuals who received the vaccine doses, and there were no significant safety concerns.

The findings were posted in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

Reference

COVID-19 vaccine effective in patients with lung cancer results from a French study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. EurekAlert. News release. November 15, 2021. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/934670