B cell–depleting therapies impair antibody responses in 2-dose series of mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, urging research on additional protection against COVID-19 in patients with B-cell malignancies. Greenberger et al. characterize T-cell responses after 2 doses of mRNA vaccines, and antibody responses to a 3rd vaccine dose, in a real-world cohort of over 1,000 patients with hematologic cancers. The third dose boosted antibody titers of patients seropositive after 2 doses, with 97% reaching physiologically meaningful titers. Among the 40% of patients who were seronegative after two doses, the third dose elicited antibodies in quantities sufficient for virus neutralization in approximately one in five cases. T-cell responses to the 2nd vaccine dose in 514 patients correlated with humoral immunity but were less impacted by anticancer treatments.
See article, p. 481.
Although BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy (BCMA-CART) leads to high rates of response in myeloma, many of these patients experience disease...