COVID-19 mRNA vaccine might trigger an immune response that fights cancer: Study

The findings of this study require confirmation from a prospective and randomized clinical trial; however, the discovery is still crucial.

“Although not yet proven to be causal, this is the type of treatment benefit that we strive for and hope to see with therapeutic interventions — but rarely do. I think the urgency and importance of doing the confirmatory work can’t be overstated,” Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., Grippin’s doctoral mentor and director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, said.

In patients with lung and skin cancers, doctors commonly engage the immune system with drugs designed to ‘release the brakes’ and recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. When the disease is in the advanced stages, most patients won’t respond well.

The new study looked at the records of 180 advanced lung cancer patients who got the COVID shot within in 100-day period before or after starting immunotherapy drugs. They found that the vaccine doubled median survival, from 20.6 months to 37.3 months. Non-mRNA pneumonia or flu vaccines have no impact on longevity.

“One of the mechanisms for how this works is when you give an mRNA vaccine, that acts as a flare that starts moving all of these immune cells from bad areas like the tumor to good areas like the lymph nodes,” Sayour said.