mRNA Covid shots may boost the effects of certain cancer treatments, study suggests

mRNA-based Covid vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna may have an unexpected benefit for cancer patients who undergo immunotherapy. 

A new study suggests that these vaccines might boost the effects of immunotherapy drugs, perhaps by alerting the immune system and helping direct immune cells to attack tumors. That’s in addition to helping protect against Covid, which can be particularly important for cancer patients who can sometimes have weakened immune systems. 

The study found that advanced cancer patients who received a Covid vaccine within 100 days before taking an immunotherapy drug during the pandemic lived longer than patients who did not, in a retrospective analysis. Researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center presented the study at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Berlin on Sunday. 

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