Efficacy and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines for Patients with Solid Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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Abstract
This systematic review and meta-analysis compared the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines between solid cancer patients and general people. We searched five electronic databases on July 18, 2021. The inclusion criteria for a study were: i) solid cancer patients; ii) receiving at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; iii) reporting of anti-spike(S) IgG seropositivity rates (primary outcome) and other efficacy and safety outcomes; and iv) comparing the outcomes between solid cancer patients and general people or within solid cancer patients. We assessed the study quality and pooled the outcomes using relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). This review included ten studies, seven for meta-analyses. Almost all participants received the BNT162b2 vaccine. In comparison to the controls’ anti-S IgG seropositivity rates, those of solid cancer patients were significantly lower after the first vaccination (RR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.57) and slightly lower (RR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.96) after the second vaccination. In conclusion, the BNT162b2 vaccine is relatively safe for solid cancer patients. These patients may have a lower seropositivity rate after the first vaccination. However, the seropositivity rate increases considerably and is comparable to general people after the second vaccination.
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