COVID-19 vaccine may have boosted survival in advanced lung cancer patients

A University of Florida research team led by Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., (center) developed an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 that boosted the tumor-fighting effects of immunotherapy.

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 30, 2025 – Lung cancer patients who received COVID-19 vaccination survived nearly twice as long as similar patients who did not get the vaccine, a new observational study shows.

The study led by  Adam Grippin, M.D., Ph.D.,  at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, and senior study author Elias Sayour, MD, PhD at University of Florida, asked the question, would the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine stimulate the immune system against cancer?

To find out, the researchers analyzed medical records of 884 patients with advanced lung cancer. Of those, 180 received the vaccine within a 100-day period before or after starting immunotherapy for their cancer, and 704 patients who did not receive the vaccine. All received the same immunotherapy regimen.

The data analysis showed a remarkable near doubling of median survival from 20.6 months to 37.3 month for those receiving the vaccine. The results appear in the Oct. 22, 2025 journal Nature. 

In addition, the researchers did a similar analysis of data from 210 advanced melanoma patients. Of these patients 43 received the vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy, and 167 did not. While the results were not as dramatic, the researchers say the data showed that median survival in the vaccine group increased from 26.7 months to 30 to 40 months.

The researchers emphasize that as an observational study, the findings cannot draw a causal link between the vaccine and increased survival, and will require additional studies that will compare groups of patients in a randomized clinical trial to do that.

"Although not yet proven to be causal, this is the type of treatment benefit that we strive for and hope to see with therapeutic interventions -- but rarely do," said Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. "I think the urgency and importance of doing the confirmatory work can't be overstated."

Their results build on more than a decade of investigation in Sayour's lab exploring how messenger RNA could be used to stimulate the body's natural defenses and moves the field closer to the idea of a universal cancer vaccine that could enhance the effects of existing immunotherapy drugs.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and multiple foundations.

Sayour, Grippin and Mitchell hold patents related to UF-developed mRNA vaccines that are licensed by iOncologi Inc., a biotech company born as a "spinout" from UF in which Mitchell holds interest.

Source: University of Florida press release