Covid Vax Augments Immunity in Blood Cancer Patients: Study

News Desk

Sydney: Despite having acutely low immunity levels, blood cancer patients have significant responses against SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination, on par with those of healthy individuals.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne conducted the most thorough examination of adaptive SARS-CoV-2 immunity to date in haematology patients of varying diseases and treatments across three doses of Covid-19 vaccination in comparison to healthy individuals.

The findings published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine show that patients with blood cancer highly benefit from receiving three doses of vaccination. The vaccines boost their levels of T cells, the white blood cells that kill virally infected cells, irrespective of the patient’s B-cell numbers and antibody response.

“To help prevent severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, it’s critical to fully comprehend vaccination efficacy in this immunosuppressed, high-risk population of patients,” said Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) Senior Research Fellow Dr Oanh Nguyen.

“Despite having a high risk of contracting viral infectious illnesses like influenza and SARS-CoV-2, this group is not often included in pre-clinical trials that evaluate the efficacy of vaccines,” stated Dr Oanh.

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Nguyen said that the scientists examined the traits of these T cells that are produced after vaccination and discovered that these signatures are quite comparable to those of healthy individuals that are either infected or vaccinated.

Doherty Institute Laboratory Head Katherine Kedzierska informed researchers that the study provides key insights for future immunisation strategies with vaccines such as influenza, which predominantly induce B cell immune responses.

“What we have shown is that individuals with comorbidities who have a severely compromised B cell immune system can benefit from an mRNA vaccination to evoke T cells and provide them with an additional layer of protection,” said Kedzierska.

The study results are also important for clinicians working with blood cancer patients.

The researchers said that clinicians can have confidence that giving SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations to these patients, who are very immunocompromised and susceptible to severe COVID-19 infection, is both safe and useful. The Covid-19 vaccine provides significant T cell immunity in this population, regardless of their illnesses or treatments.