Production of Anti-Spike Antibodies in Response to COVID Vaccine in Lymphoma Patients

Background Patients with hematologic malignancies have poor outcomes from COVID infection with associated mortality of up to 30-40%. Studies have shown that these patients are less likely to mount an antibody response after COVID infection 1. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID mRNA vaccines have been shown to be 94% effective in preventing severe disease in the general population. There is limited data on the efficacy of these vaccines in lymphoma patients, and to suggest the optimal timing of vaccination to elicit immunity in patients receiving immunochemotherapy. Methods This is a retrospective study of adult lymphoma patients who received the COVID vaccine between 12/2020 and 04/2021. The primary endpoint was a positive anti-COVID spike protein antibody titer following 2 doses of the COVID mRNA vaccines or 1 dose of the COVID adenovirus vaccine. Additional outcomes of interest included key variables, such as lymphoma subtype and treatment with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. Subgroups were compared using Fisher's exact test, and unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were used for univariate (UVA) and multivariate (MVA) analyses. Results One-hundred thirty-seven patients were identified with baseline characteristics as shown in Table 1. Overall, the study population was older at a median age of 69 (IQR 59-78) years old, 52% of patients were male, and 72% of patients were white. The most frequent comorbidities were cardiovascular disease (39%) and former smoking history (34%), and 45 (33%) patients were obese (BMI >= 30). Testing for anti-COVID spike protein antibodies occurred at a median 48 (IQR 25-62) days [range 6-120] after second vaccination. Lymphoma subtypes in our cohort were: indolent lymphomas (35%), CLL/SLL (20%), 27 (20%) patients with Burkitt's, DLBCL, PMBCL combined, and 25 (18%) patients with Hodgkin's and T-cell lymphomas (HL/TCL) combined. Majority of patients received COVID mRNA vaccines, and we were able to confirm the specific type in 71 (52%) patients. Only 1 person received the COVID adenovirus vaccine. Ninety-two patients (67.2%) developed anti-COVID spike protein antibodies after receiving a COVID vaccine. Of 27 patients who received an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody-containing regimen in the last 12 months prior to vaccination, 14 (52%) patients produced antibodies. This rate was numerically lower than 72% (26/36) of those who developed antibodies and received an anti-CD20 antibody greater than 12 months prior to