Patients with advanced lung or skin cancer who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived significantly longer than those who did not, researchers report.

The observation—made by scientists at the University of Florida (UF) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center—marks a defining moment in more than a decade of work exploring how mRNA-based therapeutics can “wake up” the immune system to fight cancer. Building on years of preclinical findings, the study suggests that a readily available vaccine designed for infectious disease may also sensitize tumors to immunotherapy and dramatically extend survival.

“The implications are extraordinary—this could revolutionize the entire field of oncologic care,” said senior investigator Elias Sayour,

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