Background
Patients with cancer are at high risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Knowledge regarding the efficacy of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in actively treated cancer patients is limited as they had been excluded from the pivotal studies of these vaccines. We evaluated humoral and cellular immune responses in cancer patients after double vaccination and a booster dose and identified disease- and treatment-related factors associated with a reduced immune response. We also documented the number and outcome of breakthrough infections.
Patients and methods
Patients with metastatic solid malignancies undergoing active treatment were included if they had received two doses of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 mRNA vaccines BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 and a booster dose. Other causes of immunosuppression and previous COVID-19 infections (positive anti-nucleocapsid titers) were exclusion criteria. Anti-spike antibodies, neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) and T-cell responses were assessed about 6 months after the two-dose vaccination and 4 weeks after the booster.
Results
Fifty-one patients had pre-booster and 46 post-booster measurements. Anti-spike titers after two vaccine doses were highly variable and significantly lower in older patients, during treatment with chemotherapy compared to targeted and endocrine treatments and in patients with low CD4+ or CD19+ cell counts. The booster dose led to a significant increase in anti-spike antibodies and nAbs, achieving almost uniformly high titers, irrespective of baseline and treatment factors. The cellular immune response was also significantly increased by the booster, however generally more stable and not influenced by baseline factors and treatment type. Seventeen patients (33%) experienced breakthrough infections, but none required hospital care or died from COVID-19.
Conclusions
An mRNA vaccine booster dose is able to increase humoral and cellular immune responses and to overcome the immunosuppressive influence of baseline and treatment factors in cancer patients. Breakthrough infections were uniformly mild in this vaccinated high-risk population.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, mRNA vaccine, Humoral immunity, cellular immunity, solid tumors, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, neutralizing antibody, antibodies, Efficacy, Vaccine, coronavirus, immune response, vaccination, Vaccines, Cellular immune response, mRNA-1273, hospital, Cancer, T-cell Response, Infection, Immunosuppression, outcome, vaccine dose, Chemotherapy, BNT162b2, COVID-19 infection, mRNA, Patient, Cancer patients, Factors, Mild, breakthrough infections, Other, disease, Care, booster dose, booster, anti-spike antibody, high-risk population, dose, Endocrine, older patients, immunosuppressive, humoral, high risk, cancer patient, exclusion criteria, Messenger RNA, acute respiratory syndrome, Factor, severe coronavirus disease, significant increase, cell counts, CD4+, positive, CD19+, significantly lower, significantly increased, Result, died, evaluated, required, reduced, treated, overcome, cause, excluded, baseline, solid malignancy, were assessed, 【제목키워드】 Treatment, Patient, booster vaccination, cellular response, neoplasm, mRNA-based,