Systems immunological assessment of vaccine responses in cancer patients

Speaker: Florian Wimmers (Universitätsklinikum Tübingen)

Host: Andreas Peschel (CMFI)

Date & Time:22.05.2025 | 12:30 – 14:00 Uhr

Venue:  Hörsaal 3M07, GUZ

Public event. No registration needed.

Abstract:

Infectious diseases caused over 12 million deaths globally in 2021, disproportionately affecting immunocompromised cancer patients, who often fail to develop protective vaccine responses.
The mechanisms underlying poor vaccine immunity in these patients remain unclear, limiting effective interventions. To address this, we used a systems biology approach to analyze blood samples from >130 healthy donors and cancer patients (multiple myeloma and late-stage non-small cell lung cancer) immunized with an influenza vaccine. In contrast to our initial hypothesis, cancer patients in our cohort showed superior vaccine-induced antibody responses, which coincided with distinct single-cell transcriptional profiles. Ongoing CyTOF, Olink, and BCR-seq analyses further define the underlying mechanisms.

Together, our results prove that potent vaccine responses can be induced in immunocompromised patients and serve as a starting point for developing tailored vaccination approaches for vulnerable populations.