ABSTRACT
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.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Neoplasms , Humans , Aged , Immunization, Secondary , COVID-19/prevention & control , RNA, Messenger , BNT162 Vaccine , Vaccination , Antibodies, Neutralizing , Neoplasms/drug therapyABSTRACT
Background: Vaccination is considered essential for individual protection during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic. The efficacy of the current vaccines in MM-patients is unknown. Aim: To determine seroconversion rates and antibody levels in MM about 3 and 6 months after the second dose of the vaccine BNT162b2. Methods: Patients with symptomatic MM without prior COVID19 were eligible. We measured levels of SARS-CoV-2-spike-and-nucleocapsid-antibodies (AB) by electro-chemiluminescence-immunoassay and extracted clinical data from hospital records. Results: 101±14 (mean±SD) days after the second vacccination sero-conversion (anti-spike-[S]-AB ≥0.8 U/l) was detectable in 54/59 (91.5%) MM-patients and 21/21 controls, with lower concentrations in MM-patients (median 166 U/l versus 929 U/l, p<0.001). The percentage of individuals with anti-S <250 U/l was 9% (1/11) for vaccination during "watch-and-wait", 39% (12/31) during maintenance and 82% (14/17) during (re-)induction. No patient developed COVID19. Details regarding the vaccination-response according to different clinical factors are shown in the table. The anti-S-concentration fell significantly (mean-45%, range-100%-+42%, p<0.001) at follow-up (mean 88±11 days after the first measurement;performed in MM-patients only). Conclusions: Most MM-patients responded to the BNT162b2 vaccine, but often with lower concentrations of anti-S three months after the second vaccination, which additionally declined over time. Besides age and markers of immunosupression, treatment-modalities seem to affect the vaccination-response more than disease-related factors. Daratumumab did not influence the anti-S-concentration in our cohort. In order to determine the anti-S threshold for a third vaccination, regular assessment of the vaccination response in all MM patients, regardless of treatment, seems advisable.