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Andrew Dothard



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    OA01 - Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapy for Lung Cancer (ID 1)

    • Event: NACLC 2019
    • Type: Oral Abstract Session
    • Track:
    • Presentations: 1
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      OA01.04 - Safety and Efficacy of Flu Vaccination after Treatment with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Retrospective Review (ID 73)

      14:00 - 15:40  |  Author(s): Andrew Dothard

      • Abstract
      • Slides

      Background:
      Influenza is a highly contagious viral illness with a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Lung cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy often have compromised organ function which puts this subpopulation at higher risk for flu-related complications. Published data examining rates of immune-related adverse events (irAE) after flu vaccination are sparse. Notably, a recent study reported by Laubli et. al (PMID 29789020) demonstrated an increased risk of irAEs after flu vaccination in patient’s receiving ICIs.


      Method:
      Retrospective data were analyzed on cancer patients who were initiated on an ICI at the primary infusion center of this institution between Jan 2014 – May 2018. Among the 285 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the incidence of irAE was determined by steroid initiation and confirmed by clinician review. As a post hoc analysis, three Fisher's exact tests were performed independently to examine the relation between flu vaccination and subsequent irAE incidence at our institution and compared to prior published data (PMID 29789020).


      Results:
      Among patients actively receiving ICI, there was a need for steroids for treatment of irAEs in 2/45 (4%) of patients who received the flu shot versus 27/240 (11%) of patients who did not receive the flu shot. For patients receiving immunotherapy who then received flu vaccination, WFBCCC patients were less likely (4%) to have a severe irAE than patients as reported by Laubli et. al (21%; two-tailed p 0.05). /images/abstracts/OA01.04.png


      Conclusion:
      Our study provides evidence that vaccination against influenza after receiving ICI does not confer an increased risk of severe (grades 3-4) irAE’s in lung cancer patients receiving IO. These data support the safety of routine vaccination against influenza in patients receiving ICI.

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