Can the COVID mRNA vaccine improve cancer outcomes?

gloved hand holding vaccine
By Neuroscience Research Theme
1 min read

Neurobiologist Lydia Daboussi, PhD in David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA's Neurobiology Department is committed to making science accessible. 

She's summarized a striking finding: COVID mRNA vaccines may improve cancer outcomes. 

A new paper shows that patients who received an mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting cancer immunotherapy had dramatically better survival, nearly double the 3-year survival rate for lung cancer. The vaccine triggers an interferon surge that wakes up the immune system and makes tumors more vulnerable to treatment. 

Read the entire paper: SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade