New Study

A new study showed that cancer patients who received Covid mRNA vaccines while starting immunotherapy survived nearly twice as long as unvaccinated patients.

Context

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that help the body's immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. However, only 20–40% of eligible patients respond to these treatments, and the approach is largely ineffective for those who do not already have an immune response against their tumors. Scientists have been working on personalized mRNA vaccines designed to train each patient's immune system to attack their specific cancer. However, these personalized vaccines are costly and time-consuming to produce, typically taking at least six weeks from diagnosis to manufacture.

Unexpected Discovery

Last month, researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida published a study that analyzed records from nearly 1,100 patients with advanced lung or skin cancer who received immune checkpoint inhibitors between 2019 and 2023.