New research from scientists at UVA Health found that severe COVID-19 and flu infections “prime the lungs for cancer and can accelerate the disease’s development, but vaccination heads off those harmful effects.”
Serious viral infections seemed to “reprogram” immune cells in the lungs, facilitating the growth of cancer tumors “months or even years later.” The researchers are now “urging doctors to closely monitor patients who have recovered from severe COVID, flu, or pneumonia in hopes of catching lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.”
Respiratory infections are “among the most common causes of injury and trauma to the lungs,” but long-term cancer risk hasn’t been fully understood. The scientists found a “significant association between prior COVID-19 hospitalization and increased lung cancer incidence” upon studying data from patients, regardless of whether the patients had comorbidities.
Work with mice has led the researchers to believe they see what causes the increased risk; these serious viral infections had “dramatic effects on immune cells called neutrophils and macrophages that are supposed to protect the lungs. These changes caused wayward neutrophils to begin creating an inflamed, ‘pro-tumor’ environment where cancer can thrive.” However, “prior vaccination appeared to prevent the cancer-promoting lung changes.”
Scientists noted that increased cancer risk was not observed in patients who had suffered only mild cases of COVID-19.
