Recently, the domestic new crown epidemic has been effectively alleviated, and vaccination is also in full swing. This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. For healthy people, the benefits are beyond reproach. Does it have the same benefits for special populations, such as cancer survivors?
For a long time, cancer patients have been excluded from clinical trials of the new crown vaccine. Because there is evidence that after vaccination, there may be persistent immune disorders, low seroconversion rates, and a longer "detox period" after infection. This makes cancer patients, especially those who are receiving anti-tumor treatments more entangled, whether or not to fight? Can you fight?
In fact, the focus of everyone's attention is nothing more than two points: One is effectiveness. Since most cancer patients are in a certain immunosuppressive state, after the injection of the vaccine, can cancer patients have the same protective effect as healthy people? The second is safety. Cancer patients usually receive anti-tumor treatment due to underlying diseases. What everyone is more worried about is whether vaccination will have a negative impact on tumor prognosis!
Previously, the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had given a clear answer: cancer patients are currently not suitable for the new crown vaccine. The informed consent form for COVID-19 vaccination is also clearly marked: Vaccination contraindications include malignant tumors.
However, patients will still ask: Can they be vaccinated? Will it work after vaccination? How long will it usually take effect? How about security?
Recently, I just saw a related literature report, so I brought it over to share with you, so that you can understand the latest developments, so that we can walk more stable and safer on the road of fighting cancer.
This study comes from King’s College, University of London, UK, and is a prospective study. The new crown vaccine involved, the BNT162b2 vaccine, is mainly from Pfizer, a major international pharmaceutical company. Cancer patients are tested for nasopharyngeal swabs every 10 days after vaccination. In order to monitor the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, a total of 3 months of follow-up follow-up.
This study found that only about a quarter of tumor patients developed antibodies 21 days after the first vaccine injection. Among them, only 39% of patients with solid tumors, while patients with hematological malignancies have a worse effect, with an effective rate of only 13%. In contrast, the immune efficiency of healthy people reached 97%. This shows that the response efficiency of cancer patients to the new crown vaccine is very low. Even if the new crown vaccine is injected, it will not produce effective protection in the early stage.
Generally speaking, the delayed immune response may prevent most cancer patients from being effectively protected, and may even have some adverse effects on the health of the patients themselves. The researchers analyzed the reasons for the early ineffectiveness of vaccine injection in cancer patients, which may be related to the patient's own immune function and the decrease in the number of B cells (immune cells) in the body.
However, don't worry, everyone, this is not the final result. With the deepening of the research, the study also found that on the 21st day, that is, after the second vaccine injection of cancer patients, most cancer patients developed immunity. Among them, 18 of the 19 solid tumor patients developed Antibody response, including 8 patients who initially had no immune response. Judging from the results of this study, it shows that the vaccine injection still has a certain effect on cancer patients, but the onset time is mainly after the second booster injection, that is, 21 days later.
In terms of security. According to the results of the study, more than half of the cancer patients reported no toxicity after the first dose of the vaccine, while the control group also reported 37.5% of the toxicity. Similarly, after the second booster vaccine injection, 71% of cancer patients reported no toxic effects, and 6.8% of patients had obvious local or systemic reactions. The problem of cancer patients' concerns on the prognosis of the disease is still unknown due to the short observation time and no accurate clinical data.
On the whole, although the new crown vaccine is safe for cancer patients, its effective rate is relatively low, especially in the early stage of vaccination, and the research itself is not perfect. First, the test completion rate is low. Due to various reasons, most people failed to complete the test process. Among them, only 79 people participated in the whole process of screening, and only 12 people completed more than one nasopharyngeal swab test. Even during the trial, 6 patients were infected with the new coronavirus within 21 days after the administration, and 2 of them eventually died due to severe complications. Second, the sample size is too small. The study began by selecting 151 patients to participate in the trial, including 96 patients with solid tumors and 55 patients with hematological tumors, most of whom were elderly. Especially for patients with hematological malignancies, the second vaccine injection is basically not completed, so it is impossible to accurately assess the efficacy of the vaccine.
In short, as to whether cancer patients should be injected with the new crown vaccine, the current clinical data is still insufficient and the research data is not sufficient. Most cancer patients have immune abnormalities and relatively poor physical fitness, so the risk of vaccination will correspondingly be higher than that of ordinary people. .
Although, theoretically speaking, patients with malignant tumors can be vaccinated against the new crown vaccine, but there is no conclusion yet, and it is recommended not to vaccinate for the time being. If you really want to be vaccinated, it is best to consult an oncologist first and ask the doctor to evaluate the risks and benefits.
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