2022-08-04
Cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: no evidence of increased risk for severe immune complication after COVID-19 vaccination
Does COVID-19 vaccination increase the risk of cancer patients undergoing therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to suffer a dangerous immune complication known as a "cytokine release syndrome"? A team of Heidelberg physicians and scientists has now shown in a clinical study: Increased serum levels of the characteristic cytokines occur frequently in cancer patients, but clinically relevant cases of the dreaded syndrome were not observed. The result supports the current recommendation to vaccinate cancer patients against COVID-19, even under therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
