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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2021; 42(02): 123-129
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1733823
Original Article

Persistent Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Retrospective Observational Study

Amit Agarwal
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Saphalta Baghmar
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Suhail Qureshi
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Aseem Khurana
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Rasika Setia
2   Department of Transfusion Medicine, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Maroof Ahmad Khan
3   Department of Bio-Statistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India
,
Purabi Barman
4   Department of Clinical Microbiology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Raj Kumar Kapoor
5   Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Navneeth Reddy Hasthavaram
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Ramesh Kumar
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Navdeep Singh
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Aditya Sarin
1   Department of Medical Oncology, Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Anil Handoo
6   Research & Continuing Education (AARCE), Dr BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, India
› Author Affiliations Funding Not applicable.
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Abstract

Introduction There is limited literature available regarding the prevalence and durability of immune response to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in cancer patients.

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the seroconversion rate in cancer patients recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed antibody levels and seroconversion rates in serum samples from 135 cancer patients who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Chemiluminescent immunoassay using Roche Cobas e801 analyzer (Roche Diagnostics, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) was performed to identify Pan Ig antibody against nucleocapsid antigen. Reports of first, third, and sixth month were analyzed. Seroconversion was also compared with health-care workers (HCW) of our institute who had recovered from COVID-19 infection.

Results Seroconversion rate in cancer patients was 81.2% at 1 month, 95% at 3 months, and 94.6% at 6 months post reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction positivity. There was no difference in seroconversion rate among different age groups, gender, comorbidities, severity of COVID-19 symptoms, cancer disease status, and treatment with chemotherapy. Seroconversion rate in cancer patients is comparable to HCW (90.4 vs. 96%, p = 0.82) and is durable.

Conclusion Humoral response to COVID-19 infection in cancer patients is comparable to general population and sustained. Such responses suggest that cancer patients are likely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords

COVID-19 - SARS-CoV-2 - anti-SARS-CoV-2-antibody - cancer - seroconversion - chemotherapy - India

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
06 August 2021

© 2021. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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