Oncology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Oncology, including details on cancer, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy.

Immune response to conjugated meningococcal C vaccine in pediatric oncology patients.

Yu JW, Borkowski A, Danzig L, Reiter S, Kavan P, Mazer BD

Division of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Following outbreaks of meningococcal disease in Quebec in 1991-1993 and 2000-2001, a mass vaccination campaign was performed. In 2001-2002, children aged 2 months to 20 years were immunized with the Meningococcal CRM197 vaccine (Menjugate). We examined the response of pediatric oncology patients during or following maintenance chemotherapy and post-bone-marrow transplantation to Meningococcal C vaccine. PROCEDURE: This was an open label descriptive study of a cohort of patients from the oncology clinic at the Montreal Children's Hospital. A positive vaccine response was defined as a fourfold increase in specific IgG from baseline and a bactericidal assay using human complement (hBCA) titer >1:4. RESULTS: Of the 25 patients with ALL, 13 had a serologic response (average 60-fold increase). The serologic responders had a higher mean B cell count (0.262) compared to non-responders 0.068 x 10.9/L [t(23) = 2.843 (P < 0.05)]. Eleven of the 12 non-responders and 4 of the responders were on maintenance chemotherapy. In addition, two of the five patients post-bone-marrow transplant, responded. Fifteen of the 34 patients (44%) had an adequate hBCA response (mean titer 61). The group included 14/18 serologic responders with hBCA response (P < 0.001) and 16/17 non-serologic responders with no hBCA response (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Meningococcal C-conjugate vaccine produced variable responses in children with common cancers. Proximity to chemotherapy and total B cell number may help predict likelihood of response.

Published 22 October 2007 in Pediatr Blood Cancer, 49(7): 918-23.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Oncology Research Today. All Rights Reserved.