Dutch hospitals studying Covid vaccines effectiveness in cancer patients

Three Dutch hospitals launched an investigation into the effect of the coronavirus vaccines in combination with cancer treatments. Over 600 patients are participating, the Telegraaf reported.

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy or immunotherapy can have a devastating effect on the patient's immune system. It is therefore unclear whether patients undergoing these treatments will be sufficiently protected against the coronavirus after being vaccinated. 

The hospitals will investigate whether this is the case. It may well be that cancer patients will require three doses of coronavirus vaccine instead of the usual two, head researcher and oncology professor Liesbeth de Vries of the UMC Groningen said to the newspaper. 

The participating patients will be given two doses of coronavirus vaccine. "Four weeks after the second vaccination, we'll measure the immune response in the blood, and we will announce the results quickly. We'll also look later after vaccination to see how long the immune response lasts," De Vries said.

According to her, this research is unique. "Unique because the Netherlands is the first to start it, but especially very important. Patients with cancer belong to the vulnerable groups for whom Covid-19 can be extra dangerous in terms of the course of the disease. My patients constantly ask questions about it."