A team led by UF’s Elias Sayour found patients that received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy treatment for advanced lung cancer or melanoma lived significantly longer than those who didn’t get the vaccine. The study was based on analysis of existing data from records of patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic melanoma.
For example, among the 180 advanced lung cancer patients, getting the vaccine was associated with a near doubling of median survival, from 20.6 months to 37.3 months. “When you give an mRNA vaccine, that acts as a flare that starts moving all of these immune cells from bad areas like the tumor to good areas like the lymph nodes,” says Sayour. Non-mRNA pneumonia or flu vaccines resulted in no change in longevity. These preliminary findings will be followed by a randomized clinical trial.
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