By Chase Doyle COVID-19 may have caught the world off guard in 2020, but in the 2 years since the pandemic began, several effective monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs have emerged to protect the most vulnerable patients. The ASCO Post spoke with Gunjan L. Shah,...
Study Finds Black Patients With Cancer Diagnosed With COVID-19 Have Worse Outcomes Than White Patients
Black patients with cancer experienced significantly worse outcomes after a COVID-19 diagnosis than non-Hispanic White patients, according to findings published by Fu et al in JAMA Network Open. Investigators from the COVID-19 and Cancer...
Risk of COVID-19 Infection and Complications Among Survivors of Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancers
By Matthew Stenger In a Canadian population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gupta et al found that survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers were not at a greater risk of COVID-19 infection or severe complications of...
Determinants of Neutralizing Antibody Response After SARS CoV-2 Vaccination in Patients With Myeloma
By Ajay K. Nooka, MD, et al. ABSTRACT PURPOSE Vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) play a critical role in protection from SARS CoV-2. Patients with B-cell malignancies including myeloma are at increased risk of COVID-19–related mortality and exhibit...
T-Cell Responses May Help Predict Protection Against SARS–CoV-2 Infection in Individuals With and Without Cancer
T-cell responses directed against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS–CoV-2 spike protein were associated with protection from SARS–CoV-2 infection in vaccinated individuals with or without cancer, with lower T-cell responses observed in patients with blood...
Study Finds Patients With Lung Cancer Demonstrated Psychological Resilience in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Far from being hobbled by fears of COVID-19, patients with lung cancer actually showed less depression and anxiety during the pandemic than their healthy peers, according to results from a new study by Arrato et al published in JNCCN–Journal of the National...
Adverse Event Rates After Two Doses of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients With vs Without Cancer
New research published by Shulman et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network confirmed that mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 are just as safe for people with cancer as they are for cancer-free individuals. Researchers from a single institution...
TERAVOLT Study Identifies Seven Factors That Increase Mortality Risk for Patients With Lung Cancer Infected With COVID-19
The risk of death for patients with SARS–CoV-2 infection and thoracic cancer is based on seven major determinants, according to research published by Alessio Cortellini, MD, in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Alessio Cortellini, MD TERAVOLT Data The...
Immunogenicity of COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine Booster in Patients With Cancer Receiving Active Treatment
By Matthew Stenger In an Israeli single-institution study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ligumsky et al found that a booster dose of the SARS–CoV-2 Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine given in August or September 2021 was immunogenic in patients receiving...
Fully Vaccinated Patients With Multiple Myeloma: Rates of SARS–CoV-2 Breakthrough Infection and Hospitalization
By Matthew Stenger In a U.S. cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Wang et al found that fully vaccinated patients with multiple myeloma were at increased risk of breakthrough SARS–CoV-2 infection, and that those with breakthrough infection were more likely...
Response to Third Dose of SARS–CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine in Patients With Solid Tumors Undergoing Active Treatment
By Matthew Stenger In a single-institution Israeli study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Rottenberg et al found that a booster dose of the SARS–CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA resulted in increased spike protein antibody titers in patients with solid tumors...
COVID-19 Vaccination: Patients With Multiple Myeloma May Lack T-Cell Response
By Caroline Helwick Patients with multiple myeloma lacking an antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination may also fail to mount a T-cell response, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have reported. This scenario seemed to be most common...
Study Finds the COVID-19 Pandemic Created Significant Disruptions in Cancer Screenings at Federally Qualified Health Centers
A new study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to significant disruptions in breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screenings at federally qualified health systems spanning 15 states across the United States. The postponed screenings have created...
Majority of Patients With Cancer Achieve Immune Response After COVID-19 Vaccination
In a U.S. and Swiss study, nearly all patients with cancer developed an immune response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines 3 to 4 weeks after receiving their second dose. However, a small group of the patients exhibited no response, raising questions about how their protection...
All-Cause Mortality in COVID-19–Positive and COVID-19–Negative Patients With Cancer
6/18/2021 ~ The ASCO Post ~ By Matthew Stenger All-Cause Mortality in COVID-19–Positive and COVID-19–Negative Patients With Cancer In a large cohort study reported by Sharafeldin et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers from the National COVID Cohort...