Omicron: Number of vaccine breakthroughs in cancer patients on the rise

For cancer patients, Covid-19 poses a particular risk due to their often compromised immune systems, weakened by therapy or disease, which is why vaccination is very important for their protection. Now, a recent study led by MedUni Vienna shows that, due to Omicron, there is an increasing number of breakthrough infections in people with cancer, especially while they are undergoing cancer therapy. The researchers of the study, which has just been published in the prestigious journal Cancer Cell, emphasise that adhering to protective measures and development of vaccines adapted to virus variants is important to affected individuals. A total of 3,959 patients who are or have been treated for cancer at University Hospital Vienna and at the Franz Tappeiner Hospital in Merano (Italy) were examined in the study. Eighty-five (85) percent of patients had received at least one vaccination with one of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines authorised in the EU. Between February 2020 and February 2022, a total of 950 of the 3,959 cancer patients (24 percent) had become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As the research shows, the number of breakthrough infections increased significantly with the emergence of the Omicron variant in January 2022: 70 percent of infected patients were vaccinated.