Study of the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune T-cell responses in COVID-19-positive cancer patients

Mansi, Laura; Spehner, Laurie; Daguindau, Etienne; Bouiller, Kevin; Almotlak, Hamadi; Stein, Ulrich; Bouard, Adeline; Kim, Stefano; Klajer, Elodie; Jary, Marine; Meynard, Guillaume; Vienot, Angélique; Nardin, Charlée; Bazan, Fernando; Lepiller, Quentin; Westeel, Virginie; Adotévi, Olivier; Borg, Christophe; Kroemer, Marie

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients are considered as highly vulnerable to COVID-19 pandemic. However, delaying cancer specific therapies could have a deleterious effect on survival. The potential suppressive effects of chemotherapies or cancer-related microenvironment raised the question on how cancer patients’ immune system responds to SARS-CoV-2 virus. METHODS: We have started a prospective monocentric trial entitled COV-CREM (NCT04365322) on April 2020. The primary trial objective was to assess specific immune response’s intensity and diversity to SARS-CoV-2 for infected patients. RESULTS: In this study, we showed that cancer patients (28 solid tumors, 11 hematological malignancies) exposed to SARS-CoV-2 produced high rate of specific antibodies, as observed in patients without cancer history (n=29). However, our results highlight a lack in the generation of T-cell responses against CoV-N, M and S proteins from SARS-CoV-2 virus, suggesting that cancer patients failed to mount a protective T-cell immunity. Nevertheless, SARS-CoV-2 infection did not impair established immune memory since specific responses against common viruses was not hampered in cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Given the severity and the unknown evolution of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is of fundamental importance to integrate cancer patients in vaccination programs.