AUTHOR=Autore Francesco , Stirparo Luca , Innocenti Idanna , Papa Elena , Marchesi Francesco , Togni Chiara , Mariani Sabrina , Torrieri Lorenzo , Salvatori Martina , Fazio Francesca , Metafuni Elisabetta , Giammarco Sabrina , Sora Federica , Falcucci Paolo , Ferrari Antonella , Trisolini Silvia Maria , Capria Saveria , Tafuri Agostino , Chiusolo Patrizia , Sica Simona , Laurenti Luca TITLE=Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation. A multicentric experience JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.897937 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.897937 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

COVID-19 disease has a strong impact on hematological patients; those receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) represent a particularly vulnerable group, in which the effectiveness of vaccination is very variable. Chiarucci et al. showed that patients affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and treated with rituximab experienced a lower rate of immunization against SARS-CoV-2 (54%), as well as significantly lower IgG antibody titers. In our multicenter retrospective observational study, we included 82 patients who underwent aHSCT, divided into two groups: 58 patients vaccinated after aHSCT (group A) and 24 vaccinated before getting transplantation (group B). In group A, 39 (67%) patients had positive serology, and the rate of positivity increased with time after aHSCT. In the subgroup of patients with NHL, the administration of rituximab predicted negative serology, particularly when administered in the 6 months before vaccination (13% response rate). Patients affected by plasma cells had a higher rate of positivity (83% overall), independently of the time to aHSCT. In group B, no patient who initially showed positive serology became negative after transplantation, so the aHSCT did not affect the response to the vaccination. Our study confirmed the role of rituximab as a negative predictor of response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, whereas the conditioning and transplantation procedure itself seemed to be less important.