“Breaking” COVID infections can still be fatal to cancer patients-consumer health news

Monday, December 27, 2021 (HealthDay News)-When a fully vaccinated cancer patient develops a breakthrough case of COVID-19, most become seriously ill and will be hospitalized.

The conclusions come from the experience of 54 cancer patients who developed COVID-19.

Sixty-five percent were hospitalized after infection, and one in five (19%) wore a ventilator for respiratory assistance. A total of 13% died.

“We wanted the vaccine to be very defensive-at least that was our theory,” said research author Dr. Jeremy Warner. “Yes, we were surprised and disappointed to see the patient still quite ill and sometimes dying.”

not yet, Investigation result It reflects the 7-month stretch that started last November.

The research team pointed out that it was before the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended giving booster shots to all cancer patients. It was also before the emergence of new, yet not fully understood, variants of Omicron.

Given the rapidly changing situation of COVID-19, both factors can have a significant impact on the method. Fully vaccinated cancer patients It will be the fare from now on.

“Getting a booster is more important than ever,” said Warner, an associate professor of hematology / oncology at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

In some countries, such as Israel, he said, “I no longer think that unboosted people are fully vaccinated.”

“As for Omicron, the evidence now seems to indicate that it’s not that serious for the general population,” Warner added. “But I don’t know if that will lead to patients with cancer, especially those at the highest risk,” says elderly people, men, patients with multiple health problems, and / or patients with rapidly spreading cancer. Means.

Recently approved Pfizer and Merck antivirals are expected to have the potential to further protect the most vulnerable. Last week, the FDA approved Pfizer’s Paxlovid has shown that it has reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for such patients by almost 90% for emergency use in high-risk people after study results.

But even if the booster, omicron, and antiviral problems were removed from the equation, Warner said he and his colleagues were seriously disappointed. COVID They saw among cancer patients.

This study included 129 US Research Centers working together as COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19 for short).

In this study, the CCC19 group sharpened approximately 1,800 cancer patients who developed COVID-19 between November 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021.

The majority were not vaccinated.

However, 54 patients were completely vaccinated. That is, twice with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or once with the single-dose J & J vaccine.

Still, nearly two-thirds were infected with COVID and had to be hospitalized.

The researchers provided one possible explanation: levels of key immune system cells (lymphocytes) that are important to the body’s ability to fight infection in nearly half (46%) of 54 vaccinated patients. Was lowered.

Cancer treatments often cause such cell depletion, Warner and his associates said. As a result, the team said such patients could not simply initiate the same immune response that the COVID vaccine was known to induce among people who were not fighting cancer.

So what can such vulnerable patients do to reduce their risk?

“A simple precaution is to upgrade the mask,” Warner advised. “Currently there are fairly comfortable KN95 and KF94 options. These may not be as protective as the N95, but are much better than cloth or surgical masks.”

And given that many cancer patients suffer from weakened immunity, “it remains very important to everyone. [of their] Close contact for vaccination and boost, “he added.

Finally, frequent tests are an important part of the defense not only for the patient, but also for his friends and family. Especially if you plan to spend time together.

Researchers are concerned about their findings, but due to the small number of patients studied, it is not possible to draw firm conclusions as to why many vaccinated patients became seriously ill with COVID. He emphasized that it is impossible.

The idea was reiterated by Dr. Julie Gralow, Chief Medical Officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Alexandria, Virginia.

“We … must continue to focus on doing everything we can to prevent cancer patients from being exposed to COVID and especially infectious Omicron variants,” she said.

She said that many of the patients vaccinated in this study appeared to have relatively aggressive cancer and were receiving relatively aggressive treatment. Therefore, the high risk of serious breakthrough infections and death may be related to the relatively serious nature of their cancer, Gralow said.

“We need to pay attention to this trend and see if we can tolerate longer follow-up / more recent data and more vaccinated patients,” she said.

Survey results were published on December 24th Annual Tumor Report..

For more information

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Breakthrough infections..

Source: Jeremy Warner, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN, and COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium Research Coordinating Center, Director of Nashville. Julie Gralow, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Alexandria, Virginia. Oncolog chronologyAnd December 24, 2021