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. 2021 Apr 4;10(7):1503.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10071503.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies in Cancer Patients Undergoing Active Systemic Treatment: A Single-Center Experience from the Marche Region, Italy

Luca Cantini  1 , Lucia Bastianelli  1 , Alessio Lupi  1 , Giada Pinterpe  1 , Federica Pecci  1 , Giovanni Belletti  1 , Rosa Stoico  1 , Francesca Vitarelli  1 , Marco Moretti  2 , Nicoletta Onori  2 , Riccardo Giampieri  1 , Marco Bruno Luigi Rocchi  3 , Rossana Berardi  1
Affiliations

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies in Cancer Patients Undergoing Active Systemic Treatment: A Single-Center Experience from the Marche Region, Italy

Luca Cantini et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence in cancer patients may vary widely dependent on the geographic area and this has significant implications for oncological care. The aim of this observational, prospective study was to assess the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG antibodies in solid cancer patients referred to the academic institution of the Marche Region, Italy, between 1 July and 26 October 2020 and to determine the accuracy of the rapid serological test. After performing 3767 GCCOV-402a rapid serological tests on a total of 949 patients, seroconversion was initially observed in 13 patients (1.4%). Ten (77% of the total positive) were IgG-positive, 1 (8%) were IgM-positive and 2 (15%) IgM-positive/IgG-positive. However, only 7 out of 13 were confirmed as positive at the reference serological test (true positives), thus seroprevalence after cross-checking was 0.7%. No false negatives were reported. The kappa value of the consistency analysis was 0.71. Due to rapid serological test high false positive rate, its role in assessing seroconversion rate is limited, and the standard serological tests should remain the gold standard. However, as rapid test negative predictive value is high, GCCOV-402a may instead be useful to monitor patient immunity over time, thus helping to assist ongoing vaccination programs.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2–specific antibodies; cancer patients; seroprevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Relevant financial activities outside the submitted work: RB is a consultant/advisory board member for Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, MSD, Otsuka, Eli-Lilly, Roche. The other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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