A joint American-Swiss study revealed that nearly all cancer patients developed a good immune response to COVID vaccines three to four weeks after receiving their second dose. However, the fact that a small group of patients did not show any response raised questions about how to protect them from the virus in the future. Among the 131 patients studied, 94% developed antibodies against the coronavirus, while seven high-risk patients did not develop any antibodies. Dr. Demby B. Shah, the study's author, stated, "We couldn't find any antibodies to the virus in these patients, which led us to believe that a third dose of the vaccine may be necessary for them after completing cancer treatment."
The study's lead author, Robin Mesa, noted, "Patients with hematologic malignancies, such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma, were less responsive to vaccination than those with solid tumors." Among the at-risk groups, patients receiving a treatment called rituximab within six months of vaccination did not develop any antibodies. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody used to treat blood cancers and autoimmune diseases. According to the study's findings, patients undergoing chemotherapy developed an antibody response, but it was muted compared to the general population. The researchers did not examine the impact of the Delta variant and other mutations of the coronavirus on cancer patients during this study published in the medical journal "Cancer Cells," as reported by the British newspaper Indian Express.
