Need to confirm the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in cancer patients

There is an increased risk of death from the new coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) in cancer patients who have been or are being treated with systemic chemotherapy. Therefore, cancer patients are a high priority group for COVID-19 vaccination. However, no safety and efficacy data are available for the COVID-19 vaccine in cancer patients. In addition, cancer treatment experts have pointed out that COVID-19 vaccination may induce or enhance immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients, which have been treating with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

In the guidelines of the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology, the following contents are expressed.

In general, immune checkpoint inhibitors have a long half-life in the body of patient with cancer, so the antiviral efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccination (BNT162b2) are unlikely to be affected by the timing of COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, at this time, COVID-19 vaccination for patients with cancer is recommended during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, fever is observed a few days after the COVID-19 vaccination, so Patients should refrain from COVID-19 vaccination within a few days prior to the start of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

So that cancer patients can be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine with confidence, medical researchers must carry out clinical studies with large cohorts to obtain safety and efficacy data for the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with cancer.

Cancer medical doctor/Cancer genomic medicine/Emerging infectious diseases                                                                                                         JAMA Oncology Published on May 10, 2021. by Kyoto@takuma H