Breisgau: People with blood cancer usually have a weak immune system, putting them at an increased risk of becoming very ill from Covid-19. Furthermore, several cancer treatments cause these individuals to develop little or no antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after Covid-19 vaccination. On the other hand, vaccination can activate T cells, which are responsible for the long-term immune response.
A team led by physicians Dr. Andrea Keppler-Hafkemeyer and Dr. Christine Greil from the Medical Center-University of Freiburgand virologist Prof. Oliver T. Keppler from LMU Munich has now characterized in detail the course over several months of the immune response of patients with blood cancer who had received a total of three vaccinations against COVID-19. The results allow inferences to be made about the protection that vaccination gives these patients against serious illness from SARS-CoV2.
