Understanding antibody-based SARS-CoV-2 immunity in hematologic malignancy (HM) patients following infection is crucial to inform vaccination strategies for this highly vulnerable population. This cross-sectional study documents the anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral response and serum neutralizing activity in 189 HM patients recovering from a PCR-confirmed infection. The overall seroconversion rate was 85.7%, with the lowest values in patients with lymphoid malignancies or undergoing chemotherapy. Therapy-naive patients in the “watch and wait” status were more likely to seroconvert and display increased anti-s IgG titers. Enhanced serum neutralizing activity was observed in the following SARS-CoV-2-infected HM patient groups: (i) males; ( ii) severe COVID-19; and ( iii) “watch and wait” or “complete/partial response”. The geometric mean (GeoMean) ID50 neutralization titers in patients analyzed before or after 6 months post-infection were 299.1 and 306.3, respectively, indicating that >50% of the patients in either group had a neutralization titer sufficient to provide 50% protection from symptomatic COVID-19. Altogether, our findings suggest that therapy-naive HM patients mount a far more robust immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. patients receiving anti-cancer treatment, raising the important question as to whether HM patients should be vaccinated before therapy and/or receive vaccine formats capable of better recapitulating the natural infection.
【저자키워드】 Medical research, Infectious diseases, Haematological cancer, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Vaccine, immune response, therapy, severe COVID-19, cross-sectional, SARS-COV-2 infection, Infection, SARS-CoV-2 immunity, Chemotherapy, serum, Neutralizing activity, cross-sectional study, symptomatic, Vaccination strategies, Patient, understanding, natural infection, anti-cancer treatment, symptomatic COVID-19, Hematologic malignancy, Vaccination strategy, malignancy, vulnerable population, geometric mean, Post-infection, PCR-confirmed, HM patients, seroconversion rate, lymphoid, neutralization titer, seroconvert, IgG titers, enhanced, robust, lowest, analyzed, the patient, receiving, question, receive, anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral, geometric, HM patient, raising, 【제목키워드】 immune response, Patient, Neutralizing, pattern, humoral, robust,