Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul 31;14(13):2410-2416.
doi: 10.7150/jca.79969. eCollection 2023.

Impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on patients with cancer in ACHOC-C19 study: Real world evidence from one Latin American country

Aylen Vanessa Ospina  1 , Ricardo Brugés  2 , Iván Triana  1 , Guillermo Sánchez-Vanegas  3 , Angela Barrero  4 , William Mantilla  5 , Pedro Ramos  6 , Laura Bernal  7 , Sandra Aruachán  8 , Manuel González  8 , José Lobatón  8 , Alicia Quiroga  9 , Giovanna Rivas  10 , Guido González  10 , Milton Lombana  10 , Isabel Munevar  11 , Paola Jiménez  12 , Ana Cristina Avendaño  13 , Mirian Caicedo Arias  13 , Carolina López  13 , Héctor González  14 , Javier Pacheco  15 , Ray Manneh  16 , Paola Pinilla  16 , Andrea Russi  17 , Juan Ortiz  18 , Jesús Insuasty  19 , Carmen Alcalá  20 , Fernando Contreras  21 , Juliana Bogoya  22
Affiliations

Impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on patients with cancer in ACHOC-C19 study: Real world evidence from one Latin American country

Aylen Vanessa Ospina et al. J Cancer. .

Abstract

Introduction: During the pandemic, it has been recommended that vaccination against COVID-19 be a priority for patients with cancer; however, these patients were not included in the initial studies evaluating the available vaccines. Objective: To define the impact of vaccination against COVID-19 in preventing the risk of complications associated with the infection in a cohort of patients with cancer in Colombia. Methods: An analytical observational cohort study, based on national registry of patients with cancer and COVID 19 infection ACHOC-C19, was done. The data was collected from June 2021, until October 2021. Inclusion criteria were: Patients older than 18 years with cancer diagnosis and confirmed COVID-19 infection. Data from the unvaccinated and vaccinated cohorts were compared. Outcomes evaluated included all-cause mortality within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization, and need for mechanical ventilation. The estimation of the effect was made through the relative risk (RR), the absolute risk reduction (ARR) and the number needed to treat (NNT). Multivariate analysis was performed using generalized linear models. Results: 896 patients were included, of whom 470 were older than 60 years (52.4%) and 59% were women (n=530). 172 patients were recruited in the vaccinated cohort and 724 in the non-vaccinated cohort (ratio: 1 to 4.2). The cumulative incidence of clinical outcomes among the unvaccinated vs vaccinated patients were: for hospitalization 42% (95% CI: 38.7%-46.1%) vs 29%; (95% CI: 22.4%-36.5%); for invasive mechanical ventilation requirement 8.4% (n=61) vs 4.6% (n=8) and for mortality from all causes 17% (n=123) vs 4.65% (n=8). Conclusion: In our population, unvaccinated patients with cancer have an increased risk of complications for COVID -19 infection, as hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, and mortality. It is highly recommended to actively promote the vaccination among this population.

Keywords: COVID-19; cancer; cohort studies; hospitalization; mechanical ventilation; mortality; vaccine effectiveness; vaccines.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

References

    1. Kuderer NM, Choueiri TK, Shah DP, Shyr Y, Rubinstein SM, Rivera DR. et al. Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer (CCC19): a cohort study. Lancet (London, England) 2020;395(10241):1907–18. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ospina AV, Bruges R, Mantilla W, Triana I, Ramos P, Aruachan S. et al. Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Patients with Cancer: Experience in a Latin American Country: The ACHOCC-19 Study. Oncologist. 2021;26(10):e1761–e73. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lurie N, Saville M, Hatchett R, Halton J. Developing Covid-19 Vaccines at Pandemic Speed. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(21):1969–73. - PubMed
    1. ASCO. COVID-19 Vaccines & Patients with Cancer 2022 [Available from: https://www.asco.org/covid-resources/vaccines-patients-cancer.
    1. ESMO. Statements on vaccination against COVID-19 in people with cancer 2021 [Available from: https://www.esmo.org/covid-19-and-cancer/covid-19-vaccination.