Filenews 31 May 2021
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 also "works" in people treated for cancer, even if their body has a less immune response than non-cancer patients, according to a new Israeli scientific study.
The researchers, led by Dr. Salomon Stemer of Baylinson Hospital's Rambin Medical Center, who published the study in the American oncology journal JAMA Oncology, compared the response to the vaccine of 102 cancer patients with an average age of 66 years and 78 healthy people.
Although antibody levels in cancer patients were approximately 70% lower than in the control group, they were nevertheless sufficient to provide protection against Covid-19 infection. That's why, as Stemer said, cancer patients should be vaccinated as a priority even amid active cancer treatment.
90% of patients treated with anticancer therapy had adequate IgG antibodies two weeks after the second dose of this vaccine, compared to 100% of non-cancer patients who had been vaccinated. Antibody levels in cancer patients were well above the lower limit allowing immune protection against the coronavirus.
Cancer patients do chemotherapies and immunotherapies that can reduce the response of their immune system. Therefore, according to Israeli scientists, their antibody levels should be monitored over time to ensure that they remain protected against Covid-19. They also said they expect cancer patients to have a similar immune response to the similar mRNA vaccine of american Moderna, although so far no study has been done on this vaccine.
