Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2023

 A review of COVID-19 infections in Australian adult cancer patients of a health service in Southeast Melbourne who received COVID-19 vaccinations. (#306)

Arana Hankijjakul 1 , Amy Body 1 , Luxi Lal 2 , Eva Segelov 2 3 , Elizabeth Ahern 2
  1. Monash University, Clayton
  2. Monash Health, Clayton
  3. Faculty of Medicine University of Bern and Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland

Background:

Even with administration of COVID-19 vaccines, cancer patients still remain at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection, severe infection and poorer clinical outcome. (1,2,3,4) Current Australian guidelines recommend 5 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for cancer patients. 

 

Methods:

A telephone follow-up of COVID-19 infection in cancer patients at Monash Health, a health service in Southeast Melbourne, who had participated in a prospective study of COVID-19 vaccination,  SerOzNET (ACTRN  12621001004853) (5) study was conducted. A list of enrolled patients were extracted from SerOzNET study database. Patients were contacted via telephone to complete a brief survey of 7 questions about COVID-19 infection during the period of 2021-2022. Hospital records and relevant information such as cancer diagnosis, treatment and number of COVID-19 vaccine doses were extracted from the database to aid in analysis.

 

Results:

352 patients were included in this analysis, 198 contacted by phone, 98 uncontactable, on end-of-life care or withdrawn from follow-up. Of the 56 patients who died during the initial study and follow up period, 49 were due to cancer and 7 due to comorbidities, none died from COVID-19. Participants had a higher rate of COVID-19 infection and symptomatic infection, 50.5% and 88%, as compared to the general Australian population during the same time period, 30.4% and 64.9% respectively. (6,7,8) There is no statistical difference in COVID-19 infection rates between different cancer types, cancer stages and number of doses of vaccines received. Out of 7 patients who were hospitalised, 2 were hospitalised for COVID-19. 

 

Conclusion:

Despite the higher rates of COVID-19 infection as compared to general Australian population, the majority of the participants report low severity of infection, low hospitalisation rates, good clinical outcome and no death from COVID-19 infection. These results suggest that under the current Australian vaccination guidelines, cancer patients are well protected from adverse outcomes. This may inform clinician discussions with patients regarding ongoing fear of infection.

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  2. Wang, Q., Berger, N. A., & Xu, R. (2020). Analyses of Risk, Racial Disparity, and Outcomes Among US Patients With Cancer and COVID-19 Infection. JAMA Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6178
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  5. Body, A., Ahern, E., Lal, L., Gillett, K., Abdulla, H., Opat, S., O’Brien, T., Downie, P., Turville, S., Munier, C. M. L., Smith, C., MacIntyre, C. R., & Segelov, E. (2022). Protocol for SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccine surveillance study in Australian adults and children with cancer: an observational study of safety and serological and immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (SerOzNET). BMC Infectious Diseases, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-07019-1
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