The immunological response to COVID-19 is weakened by
ongoing anticancer treatment.
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According to a recent study, therapy-naïve patients
with hematological malignancies (HM) can generate a higher immune response to
the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional investigation
of 189 HM patients with lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (median age 62.6
years, 63.0% men), of whom 71 were receiving anticancer treatment at the time
of infection. Overall, 85.7 percent (n=162) of patients tested positive for
anti-receptor binding domain and anti-spike immunoglobulin G seroconversion.
Patients who were undergoing anticancer medicines had
lower seroconversion than those who were not (74.1 percent vs 84.1 percent).
Five patients (38.4%) did not seroconvert after being
exposed to B-cell/plasma cell-depleting monoclonal antibodies during their
illness. The same could be said for 25% of the 44 patients who had had hematopoietic
stem cell therapy.
The likelihood of conversion was also influenced by
cancer status. The seroconversion rate for patients with stable/progressive
illness was 69.7%, compared to 94.9 percent for those in the
"watch-and-wait" group.
"Although our findings confirm the reduced
seroconversion in HM patients, particularly those with lymphoid disorders or
who are receiving chemotherapy-based treatment during SARS-CoV-2 infection, the
overall neutralizing humoral response upon natural SARS-CoV-2 infection appears
to be quite efficient and sustained overtime, with a consistently more robust
response in 'watch and wait' patients," the researchers wrote.
"More efforts should be made to develop tailored
vaccine techniques (e.g., boosters or heterologous vaccination) to
comprehensively examine the humoral response and ensure the efficacy of
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in this particular population of patients," they
stated.