Single dose of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV2 induces neutralizing antibody and polyfunctional T-cell responses in patients with CML

Patients receiving targeted cancer treatments such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been classified in the clinically extremely vulnerable group to develop severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) taking TKIs. In addition, concerns that immunocompromised individuals with solid and haematological malignancies may not mount an adequate immune response to a single dose of SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine have been raised.

We evaluated humoral and cellular immune responses after a first injection of BNT162b2 vaccine in 16 CML patients. Seroconversion and cellular immune response prior and after vaccination were assessed.

By day 21 post-vaccination, anti-Spike IgG were detected in 14/16 (87.5%) of CML patients and all developed a neutralizing antibody response (ID₅₀>50), including medium (ID₅₀ of 200-500) or high (501-2000) neutralising antibodies titres in 9/16 (56.25%) patients. T cell response was seen in 14/15 (93.3%) evaluable patients, with polyfunctional responses seen in 12/15 (80%) patients (polyfunctional CD4+ response 9/15, polyfunctional CD8+ T cell response 9/15).

These data demonstrate the immunogenicity of a single dose of SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine in most CML patients with both neutralizing antibodies and polyfunctional T-cell responses seen, in contrast to patients with solid tumour or lymphoid haematological malignancies.