Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Germany, as in most other places in Europe or worldwide, are still highly prevalent. Vaccination rates currently remain low, putting cancer patients at a continued risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, while prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among cancer patients in Germany remains essentially unknown.
Methods: Between August 2020 and February 2021, patients admitted to our hospital were prospectively enrolled in our COVID-19 biobank. Collected sera were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2-IgM/IgG using Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay.
Results: One hundred and ten patients with cancer were included in this study. With 71 (65%) patients, most had active cancer treatment, mainly chemotherapy (56%). The most frequent diagnosis was gastrointestinal cancer (54%) with pancreatic cancer being the most common cancer type (24%). Hematologic malignancies were present in 21 patients (17%). Among the cancer patients first diagnosed during the pandemic, the rate of palliative treatment situations tended to be higher (76% vs. 67%, p = 0.17). A history of SARS-CoV-2 infection was documented in 15 (14%) patients; however, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected in 10 (67%) patients only. Of the patients without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, none displayed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
Conclusion: In the present single-center experience, a low serological prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among cancer patients even after SARS-CoV-2 infection was found. The results support continued strict preventive measures as well as efforts toward faster vaccination, due to a low immunity level in the population.
Keywords: Antibody testing; Coronavirus disease-19 seroprevalence; Epidemiology; German oncology center; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2.
【저자키워드】 Antibody testing, Epidemiology, Coronavirus disease-19 seroprevalence, German oncology center, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Treatment, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, Antibody testing, coronavirus, Europe, vaccination, pandemic, Immunity, SARS-COV-2 infection, hospital, Cancer, Diagnosis, Chemotherapy, Prevalence, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 antibody, Germany, sera, Patient, Cancer patients, preventive measures, respiratory, serological, patients, risk of infection, malignancy, cancer patient, preventive measure, palliative treatment, Support, Patients with cancer, acute respiratory syndrome, oncology, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, effort, single-center, active cancer, cancer type, Elecsys, vaccination rates, Pancreatic cancer, prevalent, enrolled, analyzed, the patient, diagnosed, faster, COVID-19 biobank, Elecsy, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, university, center,