Overview
- Cancer patients who received an mRNA COVID vaccine within 100 days of starting immune checkpoint inhibitors were about twice as likely to be alive at three years compared with unvaccinated peers.
- In advanced non‑small cell lung cancer, median overall survival was 37.33 months for vaccinated patients versus 20.6 months for those not vaccinated.
- Among metastatic melanoma cohorts, median survival was not yet reached in vaccinated patients while it was 26.67 months for unvaccinated patients.
- The largest gains appeared in tumors with low PD‑L1 expression, where researchers reported nearly a five‑fold improvement in three‑year overall survival with vaccination.
- Findings from more than 1,000 patients treated between 2019 and 2023 were presented at the 2025 ESMO Congress, with mechanistic data suggesting vaccine‑induced immune activation and a randomized Phase III trial now in design.