Original COVID-19 Booster Vaccines May Offer Limited Protection Against Omicron Variants in Patients with Blood Cancer

Two studies provide evidence of reduced booster efficacy in this high-risk population

PHILADELPHIA – Compared with healthy individuals, patients with blood cancer who received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (two initial doses followed by a booster dose) had lower antibody titers and reduced neutralization of currently circulating Omicron variants, according to studies published today in Blood Cancer Discovery and Cancer Research Communications, both journals of the American Association for Cancer Research. Reduced neutralization was associated with symptomatic breakthrough infection.

• The study published in Blood Cancer Discovery is titled “Impaired SARS-CoV-2 variant neutralization and CD8+ T cell responses following 3 doses of mRNA vaccines in myeloma: correlation with breakthrough infections.” The corresponding author is Madhav Dhodapkar, MBBS. The article is available here: https://aacrjournals.org/bloodcancerdiscov/article/doi/10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-22-0173
• The study published in Cancer Research Communications is titled “Antibody binding and neutralization of live SARS-CoV-2 variants including BA.4/5 following booster vaccination of patients with B-cell malignancies.” The corresponding author is Rafi Ahmed, PhD. The article is available here: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerrescommun/article/doi/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-22-0471/711533/Antibody-binding-and-neutralization-of-live-SARS