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. 2022 Jul 31;14(15):3746.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14153746.

Clinical Post-SARS-CoV-2 Infection Scenarios in Vaccinated and Non-Vaccinated Cancer Patients in Three German Cancer Centers: A Retrospective Analysis

Evgenii Shumilov  1 , Lena Aperdannier  2 , Nicole Schmidt  2 , Christoph Szuszies  2 , Albrecht Neesse  3 , Petra Hoffknecht  4 , Cyrus Khandanpour  1   5 , Jan-Henrik Mikesch  1 , Matthias Stelljes  1 , Göran Ramin Boeckel  6   7 , Phil-Robin Tepasse  6 , Lea Reitnauer  1 , Raphael Koch  2 , Justin Hasenkamp  2 , Ulrike Bacher  8 , Simone Scheithauer  9 , Lorenz Trümper  2 , Norbert Schmitz  1 , Gerald Wulf  2 , Andrea Kerkhoff  1 , Georg Lenz  1 , Carolin Krekeler  1 , Annalen Bleckmann  1
Affiliations

Clinical Post-SARS-CoV-2 Infection Scenarios in Vaccinated and Non-Vaccinated Cancer Patients in Three German Cancer Centers: A Retrospective Analysis

Evgenii Shumilov et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccines have become an integral element in the protection of cancer patients against SARS-CoV-2. To date, there are no direct comparisons of the course of COVID-19 infection in cancer patients between the pre- and post-vaccine era. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 infections and their impact on cancer in COVID-19 vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients from three German cancer centers. Overall, 133 patients with SARS-CoV-2 were enrolled in pre- and post-vaccine eras: 84 non-vaccinated and 49 vaccinated, respectively. A mild course of COVID-19 was documented more frequently in vaccinated patients (49% vs. 29%), while the frequency of severe and critical courses occurred in approximately one-half of the non-vaccinated patients (22% vs. 42%, p = 0.023). Particularly, patients with hematologic neoplasms benefited from vaccination in this context (p = 0.031). Admissions to intermediate- and intensive-care units and the necessity of non-invasive and invasive respiratory support were reduced by 71% and 50% among vaccinated patients, respectively. The median length of admission was 11 days for non-vaccinated and 5 days for vaccinated patients (p = 0.002). COVID-19 mortality was reduced by 83% in vaccinated patients (p = 0.046). Finally, the median time from SARS-CoV-2 infection to restarting cancer therapy was 12 and 26 days among vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups, respectively (p = 0.002). Although this study does not have enough power to perform multivariate analyses to account for confounders, it provides data on COVID-19 in non-vaccinated and vaccinated cancer patients and illustrates the potential benefits of COVID-19 vaccines for these patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccination; SARS-CoV-2; cancer patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clinical, diagnostic, and treatment aspects of COVID-19 course among non- and vaccinated cancer patients of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in non- and vaccinated cancer patients of the study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Overall survival among non- and vaccinated patients; (B) cancer mortality among non- and vaccinated patients; (C) COVID-19 mortality among non- and vaccinated patients; (D) treatment delay, development of progressive disease, and median time from SARS-CoV-2 infection to therapy restart among non- and vaccinated patients of this study.
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