Lior Rokach

Senior Academic

Validation of “SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumors to immune checkpoint blockade” in an independent cohort of 4,407 patients

Ronen Arbel, Lior Rokach, Talish Razi, Tamar Tadmor

A recent study1 has demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination within 100 days of initiating immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is associated with improved overall survival (OS) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and malignant melanoma. We sought to validate these findings in an independent and larger real-world cohort. Using clinical and survival data from the Clalit Health Services, we reproduced the primary analyses of Grippin et al. and confirmed that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination near the time of ICI initiation correlates with improved patient outcomes.

Publication language English
Journal Cancer Letters
Volume 643
Publication status Published - 10.04.2026
Article Number 218319

Keywords

Immune checkpoint inhibitor
Melanoma
Non-small cell lung cancer
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Oncology
Cancer Research

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article
Access to Document
10.1016/j.canlet.2026.218319
Other files and links
Link to publication in Scopus