Cancer Cell
Volume 39, Issue 2, 8 February 2021, Pages 257-275.e6
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Article
Acute Immune Signatures and Their Legacies in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Infected Cancer Patients

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2021.01.001Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Consensus COVID-19 immune signature between solid cancer and non-cancer patients

  • Resolution of immune dysregulation and sustained seroconversion in solid cancers

  • Delayed or absent humoral responses observed in hematological cancer patients

  • Prolonged viral clearance and post-virus immune legacy in hematological cancers

Summary

Given the immune system's importance for cancer surveillance and treatment, we have investigated how it may be affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection of cancer patients. Across some heterogeneity in tumor type, stage, and treatment, virus-exposed solid cancer patients display a dominant impact of SARS-CoV-2, apparent from the resemblance of their immune signatures to those for COVID-19+ non-cancer patients. This is not the case for hematological malignancies, with virus-exposed patients collectively displaying heterogeneous humoral responses, an exhausted T cell phenotype and a high prevalence of prolonged virus shedding. Furthermore, while recovered solid cancer patients' immunophenotypes resemble those of non-virus-exposed cancer patients, recovered hematological cancer patients display distinct, lingering immunological legacies. Thus, while solid cancer patients, including those with advanced disease, seem no more at risk of SARS-CoV-2-associated immune dysregulation than the general population, hematological cancer patients show complex immunological consequences of SARS-CoV-2 exposure that might usefully inform their care.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
cancer
hemato-oncological
immune
antibodies
seroconversion
virus shedding
vaccine

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These authors contributed equally

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