Sinovac COVID vaccination improves the effectiveness of cancer treatment

People with nasopharyngeal carcinoma usually use drugs to activate the immune system to fight the tumor
.
So far, there have been concerns that vaccination against Covid-19 could reduce the success rate of cancer treatment or cause serious side effects
.
A recent study by the University of Bonn and Shanxi University in China has come to a clear conclusion
in this regard.
According to the study, anti-cancer drugs after vaccination with Sinovac actually worked better
compared to unvaccinated patients.

The findings were published in the journal Annals of Oncology in the form of a "letter to the editor," but are already available
online.

Many cancer cells are able to disrupt the body's immune response
.
They do this
by pressing a button on immune cells, the PD-1 receptor.
In this way, they effectively shut down these intrinsic defensive forces
.
Drugs can be used to block PD-1 receptors
.
This allows the immune system to fight tumors
more effectively.

Vaccination against the new coronavirus also stimulates the immune response
of PD-1 receptors.
Dr.
Jian Li from the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology (IMMEI) at Bonn University Hospital explains: "There are concerns that this vaccine is incompatible
with anti-PD-1 therapy.
This risk is particularly pronounced for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which, like the SARS Cov-2 virus, affects the upper respiratory tract
.
”

Now, the bioinformatician, along with partners from China, is investigating whether that concern is justified
.
More than 1,500 patients from 23 hospitals across the country participated in the analysis
.
This type of multicenter study is considered particularly informative because the participants are very diverse and the results of the study are not influenced by
regional characteristics.

Vaccinated patients respond better to cancer treatment

373 affected individuals received SinoVac, the Chinese vaccine
.
"Surprisingly, their response to anti-PD-1 treatment was significantly better than that of unvaccinated patients," explains
Professor Christian Kurts, Director of IMMEI and member of the Interdisciplinary Research Area 'Life and Health' and the Cluster of Immunosensory Excellence.
"In addition, they don't experience serious side effects
as often.
" The researchers couldn't explain why treatment was more successful
after vaccination.
Professor Qi Mei, from Shanxi University Hospital, said: "We think vaccination activates certain immune cells and then attacks the tumor
.
We will now examine this hypothesis
further.
”

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is rare in this country
.
However, in southern China and other Southeast Asian countries, the disease is widespread
.
One of the suspected reasons is the frequent use of air conditioning
in hot and humid areas.
Nutritional factors also seem to play an important role
.
In Taiwan, nasopharyngeal cancer is now considered one of the leading causes of
death among young men.

Y.
J.
Hua, Y.
L.
Liu, K.
Wen, C.
Kurts, H.
Wu, Q.
Mei, J.
Li.
Potentially improved response of COVID-19 vaccinated nasopharyngeal cancer patients to combination therapy with anti-PD-1 blockade and chemotherapy.
Annals of Oncology, 2022