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. 2022 Aug;5(8):e1645.
doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1645. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Serological response to a third booster dose of BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine among seronegative cancer patients

Einat Shacham Shmueli  1   2 , Yaacov R Lawrence  1   2   3 , Galia Rahav  2   4 , Amit Itay  1   2 , Yaniv Lustig  2   5 , Naama Halpern  1   2 , Ben Boursi  1   2 , Ofer Margalit  1   2
Affiliations

Serological response to a third booster dose of BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine among seronegative cancer patients

Einat Shacham Shmueli et al. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Background and aim: The BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech), given as a two-dose series, 3 weeks apart, elicits a serological response in 84-98% of patients with cancer, even if administered while undergoing anticancer treatments. Herein, we report the impact of a third (booster) dose of BNT162b2, delivered 6 months following the second vaccine dose.

Methods: This pilot study included four patients with cancer who were seronegative after two vaccine doses, and received a third (booster) dose of BNT162b2 at 6 months following the second vaccine dose. The four patients received the three vaccine doses between December 2020 and July 2021. Samples were evaluated with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that detects IgG (Immunoglobulin G) antibodies against the RBD (receptor-binding domain) of SARS-CoV-2.

Results: At a mean time of 19 days (ranges 7-28) after the second vaccination, all four patients were seronegative for RBD-IgG. However, at a mean time of 21 days (ranges 20-22) after the third dose, three out of the four patients (75%) were now seropositive. Mean RBD-IgG titers were increased after the third vaccine dose from 0.37 to 2.81 (Student's t-test, p = 0.05, two-sided).

Conclusions: Although limited by the small sample size, our findings suggest that a third (booster) dose administered to patients with cancer, who remain seronegative despite two doses of BNT162b2, may be efficacious in eliciting an antibody response.

Keywords: BNT162b2; COVID-19; booster; cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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