A recent Nature article reports that mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 confer improved survival among patients with advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer or melanoma receiving immune-checkpoint inhibitors owing to activation of systemic immunity, potentiating antitumour responses. This retrospective proof-of-principle study indicates the potential for combined therapeutic interventions, although both the timing of vaccination as well as the nature of the elicited immune responses requires further investigation.
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S.G. has received research grants from Boehringer-Ingelheim, Celgene, Janssen, Regeneron and Takeda, and has acted as an advisor of Taiho Pharmaceuticals.
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Gnjatic, S. Could a COVID-19 vaccine improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 23, 90–91 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-025-01105-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-025-01105-y
