New research published at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference on Sunday has revealed that the mRNA coronavirus vaccine could have an unintended benefit: boosting immunotherapy effectiveness.
Although the research is still in its initial phases, experts say Covid vaccines may be able to improve immune function during immunotherapy and make the treatment more potent. Immunotherapy is a relatively new cancer treatment that uses a patient’s immune system to fight tumor cells, avoiding the side effects typically associated with chemotherapy and radiation.
The connection between coronavirus vaccines and improved immunotherapy efficacy will be explored further in a Phase 3 clinical trial. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute associate professor of cancer immunology and virology Stephanie Dougan says she is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the results of this research. Although she isn’t involved in the study, she notes that there is some scientific basis behind Covid vaccines unintentionally improving cancer immunotherapy.
Researchers working on the study found that cancer patients who were on immunotherapy treatment lived longer when they received an mRNA coronavirus vaccine 100 days before they began the cancer treatment.
With just 20% of cancer patients who take immunotherapy responding positively to the treatment, researchers are always hunting for different strategies to make the therapy more effective. Unfortunately, past efforts have had little success, meaning only a small subset of cancer patients benefit from immunotherapy.
By leveraging the body’s own immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells, immunotherapy offers cancer patients a much more comfortable and side-effect-free treatment experience. When used in combination, chemotherapy, and radiation can have an effective rate of as high as 80-90% for certain cancers.
But side effects such as fatigue, kidney and bladder problems, hair loss, gastrointestinal problems, skin and weight changes, and mouth, gum, and throat sores can make the treatments very uncomfortable and even debilitating for many cancer patients.
Assistant Professor Dougan says mRNA coronavirus vaccines could stimulate immune activity just enough to make immunotherapy more effective. Previous tactics used to stimulate immune activity in cancer patients have been either too minimal to adequately stimulate immune function or so robust that they triggered overactivity that could potentially cause damage.
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines could walk the thin line between both extremes and boost immunotherapy efficacy with minimal side effects.
Study co-lead and senior radiation oncology resident at the Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, Dr. Adam Grippin, says his research team is set to begin Phase 3 clinical trials to validate the study’s initial results.
While the preliminary data is quite exciting, Grippin says Phase 3 trials will be critical to validating the findings and determining whether mRNA vaccines could be used to boost immunotherapy efficacy in cancer patients.
Immune-oncology companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) are also engaged in the quest for more effective approaches to treating cancer by empowering the immune system to combat malignancies. The success of their efforts could increase the repertoire of efficacious treatments available to patients around the globe.
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