Vaccination strategies for patients with lymphoma treated in early lines of therapies: a real-world practice survey among Fondazione Italiana Linfomi centers

Abstract

Patient diagnosed with lymphoma presents a greater risk of infection, mainly if undergoing anti-CD20 therapy, splenectomized, hypogammaglobulinemic. They can therefore benefit from a vaccination program, especially in the watchful waiting phases or before starting oncologic treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness on vaccinations in frail patients, but a homogeneous approach has yet to be achieved across different vaccinations. In this sense, FIL researchers conducted a multicenter survey to evaluate the attitude of hematologists to anamnestically evaluate the patient’s vaccination history and to plan vaccinations before treatments. In this work we present the results of the survey which denote attention to the topic but not homogeneous behavior regarding the proposal and timing of vaccinations.