A surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment

A Science news story (October 2025) reporting that an MD Anderson and University of Florida team analyzed records of more than 1,000 patients with advanced lung or skin cancer and found those who received a Pfizer or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days of starting checkpoint-inhibitor immunotherapy lived significantly longer — median lung-cancer survival nearly doubled, from 20.6 to 37.3 months. Mouse studies suggest the mRNA acts as a generalized immune 'siren' that sensitizes stubborn tumors to checkpoint blockade, and a randomized prospective trial is being planned.