Patterns of Influenza Vaccination in Head and Neck Cancer Patients in the United States

The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends routine influenza vaccination for cancer patients. Lack of influenza vaccination may lead to increased infection incidence, increased infection severity, and delays in cancer care. Vaccine uptake among head and neck patients is unknown.

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis using the SEER-Medicare database for patients above age 65 with head and neck cancer diagnosed between 2013 and 2018.

Among 32,155 patients, 32.5% received vaccination in the year before diagnosis and 32.1% in the year after diagnosis. Analyses revealed a significant increase in vaccination at the time of diagnosis and fewer vaccinations in the 3 months afterward. Various factors were associated with decreased odds of receiving vaccination, including Black and AAPI race/ethnicity, male gender, and regional and distant metastasis.

Vaccination uptake is suboptimal in patients with head and neck cancer, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to enhance preventive care to improve outcomes in high-risk patients.