You already know that the COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from severe COVID infections and reduce your chances of getting long-term COVID. You are also aware that the COVID-19 vaccine may have mild and temporary side effects, including mild fever, body aches, and fatigue.
Researchers have discovered another potential side effect that doesn’t get nearly as much attention/ What is it and why is it important? Here’s what you need to know.
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Surprising, newly discovered side effects of the COVID vaccine
There’s a Potentially New Incentive to Vaccinate and Boost Up: A University of Florida Study in the Journal Nature revealed a link between mRNA-based COVID vaccines and cancer survivorship.
Researchers examined the clinical outcomes of more than 1,000 patients with late-stage melanoma and lung cancer who were treated with an immunotherapy called immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors block a protein that tumor cells make to deactivate immune cells, essentially training patients’ immune systems to kill cancer cells.
Study patients vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy were more than twice They are as likely to survive after three years as patients who have not received a single stroke. In addition, there were patients whose tumors did not respond well to immunotherapy five times were more likely to survive past three years if they had the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA COVID vaccine than patients who had not been vaccinated. Ultimately, these results held up even after the researchers took into account variables such as comorbidities, disease severity, and other patient health conditions.
Uh, that’s pretty huge, but what does it all actually mean in practice? We asked infectious disease experts and oncologists to explain.
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“This study opens up an intriguing possibility: that modern mRNA vaccines, originally designed to prevent viral infections, may enhance the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint blockade.” Dr. Zihai Li, MD, Ph.D.founding director
Pelotonia Institute of Immuno-Oncology, Klotz Memorial Cancer Research Chair and Professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “In other words, receiving an mRNA vaccine around the time of immunotherapy could ‘prime’ the immune system to respond more actively to the cancer.”
That certainly sounds promising, but Dr. Li points out some significant research that’s important to keep in mind.
“The findings are most relevant to solid tumors such as lung cancer and melanoma, where they have the most data, and checkpoint blockade is already the mainstay of treatment,” he says. “However, there is still much to learn… For patients, the only mRNA vaccines they looked at were mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV2. If confirmed, these findings could change the way we integrate vaccines and immunotherapy, turning preventive vaccines into therapeutic allies against cancer.”
With all of this in mind, remember that this is not a cure.
“Current clinical guidelines, including those from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), do not recognize direct anticancer effects as a basis for vaccination against COVID-19 in cancer patients. Dr. Steven Goldberg, MD, MBAadvises HealthTrackRx’s chief medical officer. “The main benefit of vaccinating against COVID-19 in this population is the prevention of COVID-19 and its complications.
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Can other vaccines help fight cancer?
The study showed promise for two specific types of mRNA COVID vaccines against certain cancers. Could other vaccines also show such benefits?
According to the experts we spoke to, it’s too early to tell. “We will have to investigate whether other mRNA vaccines can have the same benefit, or whether this is only seen in mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines,” he said. Dr. Jeff Yorio, MDmedical oncologist and director of the Texas Oncology Research Center Parade. “Pneumonia and influenza vaccines that are not mRNA-based did not change the response to immunotherapy. This was a retrospective study, so more work will be needed to verify the results, but this is a very promising finding.”
“This study only looked at mRNA-based COVID vaccines, but looked at different manufacturers,” Dr. S. Wesley Long, MD, Ph.D.associate professor of clinical pathology and genomic medicine at Houston Methodist, agrees. “We don’t yet know if the same benefits can apply to other mRNA vaccines, or to vaccination in general.”
However, according to Dr. Goldberg, some other vaccines have shown some effectiveness.
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“For example, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is an established immunotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and is known to induce ‘trained immunity’, a process that enhances the immune system’s response to tumor cells.
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“Vaccines such as HPV and hepatitis B are specifically designed to prevent cancers caused by viruses, but the COVID-19 vaccine is not in that category.
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“Vaccines such as influenza and pneumococcal have also been studied for their potential to modulate the immune response of cancer patients, but there is no consistent evidence that they directly inhibit tumor growth or metastasis.”
Related: These are the vaccine side effects you should be worried about, according to infectious disease experts
What are the other benefits of the COVID vaccine?
Just a reminder: this is the prime season for COVID, colds and flu. Protect yourself! “The best evidence supports that vaccination against COVID-19 prevents serious illness, hospitalization and death,” says Dr. Long. “It can also reduce the risk of long-term exposure to COVID, prevent infection and reduce viral load by reducing the duration of illness and symptoms if you are infected.”
Also, to reiterate: No, the COVID vaccine does not the reason cancer, despite some of the unscientific talk currently in the news. “So far, we haven’t seen any evidence that COVID-19 vaccines increase cancer rates,” says Dr. Yorio. “During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of cancer dropped significantly because people didn’t get screened and see doctors as often.
The incidence of cancer is expected to increase in the next few years due to the fact that by 2020 was not diagnosed, he explains. “Again, this is not because of the vaccines, but because of a lack of testing during the pandemic. A study like this actually shows the potential benefit of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with advanced cancer. And while there are patients who experience side effects from the vaccines, the overall view is that the COVID-19 vaccine is a very safe vaccine.”
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Sources:
This story was originally reported by Parade in 2025. on Nov. 10, where it first appeared in Health & Wellness. Add the parade as a preferred resource by clicking here.