It does not interfere with anticancer therapies (a speech that applies to all neoplasms) and does not give greater side effects than what happens in the rest of the population
I had breast cancer two years ago and I finished the treatment after the surgery, but I continue the prescribed hormone therapy for at least five years. Now it would be up to me to get the vaccine against Covid-19, but I have great fears: are we sure that it does not interfere with the effectiveness of anti-cancer treatments? And how much risk for the side effects of the anti-virus serum?
He answers Saverio Cinieri, elected president of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) and head of the Oncology department of the Perrino hospital in Brindisi
His question is very topical and is of interest to all cancer patients and the scientific community. First of all, it is useful to differentiate patients according to the time of therapy: those on active treatment, what they are doing or about to start chemotherapy or immunotherapy or who have completed treatment less than six months are considered to be the most fragile. The efforts of oncologists initially focused on this type of patient to start and complete the vaccination process. In fact, as various statistics on the basis of Italian and international scientific studies have now highlighted, Cancer patients who contract Sars-CoV-2 infection are much more likely than the rest of the population to develop severe Covid and severe complications, which result in a much higher than average mortality, especially in the case of advanced cancers or some types of cancer, such as those of the blood.
You need a double dose
Because of this it is essential that patients be vaccinated without fear: the research conducted so far indicates, in fact, that the vaccine does not interfere with anti-cancer treatments and does not cause greater side effects than the rest of the population. A recent investigation by British scientists to evaluate Pfizer’s vaccine specifically in actively treated cancer patients indicates that well tolerated and full immunization comes after the second injection (preferably on the 21st day). In recent weeks, in order to increase population coverage by administering a greater number of first doses, a vaccination calendar has also been planned in Italy that provides for an extension of the interval between the first and second dose, passing through Pfizer’s vaccine to an interval of 35-42 days. It is plausible that, in healthy people, this prolongation does not compromise the efficacy of the vaccine, because the first dose is already able to obtain a good immune response. A French study reiterated that in frail people, and in cancer patients in particular, the first dose risks not being protective.. In this special population, therefore, it is not advisable to lengthen the interval between the first and second injection. For patients as in his case, recovered and who are completing the hormonal path, there is no foreclosure to administer the vaccine against Covid and, all the more reason, immunization does not interfere with the ongoing therapy and all vaccines are equally administrable (depending on age and any other pathologies). I also remind you to get the flu shot in the fall which will also protect you from seasonal flu.
July 27, 2021 (change July 27, 2021 | 15:01)
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