Clinicians are concerned that COVID-19Vaccinations would decrease the effectiveness of drugs that are used to treat nasopharyngeal disease CancerA type of cancer that affects throats is called. However, a new study has shown the opposite. The COVID-19 vaccine actually aids in treatment.
Nasopharyngeal cancerIt is commonly treated with anti-PD-1 therapy, an immunotherapy that blocks the immune system. PD-1 receptorsOn the surface are immune cells, whose job is to hunt for invaders.
These receptors are blocked Allows immune cells to be free to do their own biddingHowever, cancer cells can co-opt these receptors to shut down the body’s natural defense system against tumors.
Scientists were interested in understanding how COVID-19 vaccines might interact. This is because the two drugs have many similarities.
“It was feared the vaccine wouldn’t be compatible with anti-PD-1 treatment.” Jian Li, bioinformatics researcherFrom the University of Bonn in Germany.
“This is particularly true for nasopharyngeal and other forms of cancer. SARS-CoV-2 ViralThe upper respiratory tract is affected by this.
The records of 1,537 patients treated for nasopharyngeal tumors in 23 hospitals were examined by the team. The team found that 373 of those surveyed had received the vaccine. SinoVac COVID-19 vaccineUsed in China prior to starting their cancer treatment.
Surprisingly, they were able to respond significantly better than unvaccinated patients to anti-PD-1 therapy.” says Christian KurtsBohn University Immunologist.
“In addition, they didn’t experience more severe side effects.”
We don’t yet know the reason for this. More research is needed to determine the biological and chemical factors that cause patients who have been vaccinated with SinoVac better to anti-PD-1 treatment.
“We think that vaccination activates immune cells which attack the tumor.” says Qi MeiShanxi University Hospital in China, Dr.. “We will now explore this hypothesis further.”
The study had one advantage: it included patients from many Chinese hospitals. This allowed for a wide range of demographics and geographic areas to be covered. However, only one type and type of vaccines are included in the data.
Although nasopharyngeal carcinoma is uncommon in the United States and the UK, it is common in the south of Asia and in southern China. Scientists believe that the Epstein-Barr virus may also be involved.
Taiwan is home to the Young men are now more likely to die from disease than ever.The hope is that the link between increased treatment effectiveness, COVID-19 vaccination, might lead to better ways to tackle the disease.
The researchers wrote that future studies were necessary to clarify the mechanisms. Publication of paper.
“The association between COVID-19 vaccine and increased efficacy in anti-PD-1 therapy with chemotherapy for recurrent metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma is intriguing, but it needs to be confirmed in a larger cohort study.”
The results of the research were published in Annals of Oncology.
