Will Covid vaccines be administered to cancer patients?

According to research published in the London-based scientific journal Nature, mRNA vaccines, which were administered to millions of people during the COVID-19 pandemic, have yielded unexpectedly positive results in patients undergoing cancer treatment.

It has been determined that the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna stimulate the immune system, significantly extending the life expectancy of some patients with advanced-stage cancer.

RESEARCH CONDUCTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

In the study conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US, medical records of stage 3 and stage 4 lung cancer patients treated between 2015 and 2022 were examined.

In the study, where data from a total of 884 patients were evaluated, it was determined that 180 of these patients received a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within the first 100 days of their immunotherapy treatment.

A control group consisting of 704 patients who were not vaccinated during the same period was formed, and the results were compared.

VACCINATED PATIENTS LIVED LONGER

When the data were analyzed, it was found that vaccinated patients survived for an average of 37.3 months, while this period remained at 20.6 months in the unvaccinated group.

Three years after the start of treatment, it was determined that 55.7 percent of the vaccinated patients were still alive, while this rate was 30.8 percent for those who were not vaccinated.

It was reported that this difference remained statistically significant even after taking into account age, stage of the disease, and other clinical factors.

THE ROLE OF mRNA VACCINES ON IMMUNITY

According to the research team, mRNA vaccines create an effect that activates the body's immune system in a general sense.

It was assessed that the vaccines do not directly target cancer cells, but rather make immune cells "alert," enabling them to be more sensitive to cancerous cells.

It was emphasized that this effect could be supportive of the mechanism by which immunotherapy attacks cancerous cells.

Scientists pointed out that if these results are confirmed by large-scale studies, a new era could begin in cancer treatment.

News Source: 12punto