How frequently do vaccinated cancer patients catch COVID-19?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-04-09 01:00

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People undergoing cancer treatment are at higher risk of breakthrough COVID-19 infection (getting the virus despite being vaccinated) according to international research. The team used US electronic health records to find people with the 12 most common cancers who had been vaccinated before any COVID-19 infection and compared breakthrough infection rates through 2021. Overall, they say vaccinated cancer patients had a 13.6 per cent risk of COVID-19 infection compared to 4.9 per cent in the vaccinated non-cancer population. Pancreatic, lung and colorectal cancers came with the highest risk and thyroid, endometrial and breast cancers the lowest risk, the researchers say.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Oncology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Case Western Reserve University, USA

Funder: This work was supported by NIH National Cancer Institute R25CA221718; American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant RSG-16-049-01 –MPC; NIH National Institute on Aging AG057557, AG061388, and AG062272; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grant No. R01AA029831); the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland 1UL1TR002548-01; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center P30 CA043703; and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer Health Disparities SPORE Planning Grant P20 CA2332216.

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