Observational study on the safety and effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with lung cancer

We aimed to determine the safety and effectiveness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in terms of protection from infection and reduced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in lung cancer patients. We also analysed the toxicities related to antineoplastic treatments and the influence of infection before or after vaccination on overall survival (OS).

This cohort, multicentric, retrospective study was carried out between April 2021 and January 2022 in 27 Spanish hospitals. We included all patients ≥18 years old with lung cancer of any histology and stage who received a European Medicines Agency-approved (up to January 2022) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We collected patient follow-up data up to 3 months after vaccination.

Seven hundred and ninety-four patients were included in the analysis. Most patients were male (511, 64.4%) and the mean age was 66.0 years (standard deviation: 9.9 years). Five hundred and ninety-three (74.7%) patients received three vaccine doses. Two hundred and thirty-five (29.6%) patients reported vaccine-related adverse events. No grade 5 and only one grade 4 vaccine-related adverse event was observed. Two hundred and sixty-two (33.0%) patients had at least one adverse event related to cancer treatment; no grade 5 adverse events were reported and 21 grade 4 were observed. Fifty-eight (7.3%) patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2 after being vaccinated; 10 (17.2%) required hospitalisation and none of them needed intensive care nor died. No significant difference was observed between the OS of patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 before receiving the first vaccine dose and those not infected (P = 0.441).

Our real-world data supported the safety and effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in patients with lung cancer. SARS-CoV-2 vaccines protected most of our population from infection, and those infected developed mild-to-moderate disease.