Indications for and Contraindications of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Cancer Patients with COVID-19 Vaccination
Bangyu Luo, Jixi Li, Xianhua Hou, Qiao Yang, Yi Zhou, Jun Ye, Xiao‐Cheng Wu, Yimei Feng, Tianyu Hu, Zhi Xu, Ying He, Jianguo Sun
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted over 1 year and will not disappear in a short time. There is no specific remedy against the virus as yet. Vaccination is thus far one of the most important strategies for preventing COVID-19. Cancer patients with COVID-19 have a higher mortality because of immunosuppression. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a novel anticancer strategy for blocking inhibitory pathways, which are related to the immune response. There is a question regarding whether COVID-19 vaccination and ICI treatment impact each other in cancer patients. This review explores both sides of the relationship between ICI treatment and COVID-19 vaccination and suggests good efficacy and safety of ICI treatment after COVID-19 vaccination as well as little impact on the virus protection and toxicity associated with COVID-19 vaccination during ICI treatment.