“This Canadian-led study will determine if people with cancer can mount an appropriate immune response to COVID-19 vaccines,” said overall study lead Dr. Glenwood Goss. “It will provide critical information to patients, health care providers, public health authorities and regulatory agencies.”Research is urgently needed to know how well COVID-19 vaccines work in people with cancer. More than 2 million Canadians are currently living with cancer and many of these individuals have weakened immune systems, either due to the cancer itself, or due to treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.

The Ottawa Hospital and BC Cancer are leading a national study to address this knowledge gap, in partnership with Public Health Ontario and the BC Centre for Disease Control.

The study will enroll 300 adults with cancer in Ottawa and Vancouver, as well as 150 healthy volunteers in Ottawa. People with many kinds of cancer (e.g. lung, breast, prostate, colon and other solid tumours) can participate.

Blood samples will be collected at various time points after vaccination to measure vaccine-induced immune responses. The researchers will also look at antibody production, how well the antibodies neutralize the virus, and how well the cells of the immune system recognize the virus and develop lasting immunity. Where possible, this data will be combined with clinical outcomes of vaccine effectiveness, such as whether patients become infected with the virus after receiving the vaccine.

“This Canadian-led study will determine if people with cancer can mount an appropriate immune response to COVID-19 vaccines,” said overall study lead Dr. Glenwood Goss, who is a medical oncologist and senior clinician investigator at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “It will provide critical information to patients, health care providers, public health authorities and regulatory agencies.”

The study was awarded $1.9 million from the Government of Canada through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. It is one of four grants awarded to researchers at The Ottawa Hospital to investigate the immune response to COVID-19 and vaccines.

Co-Principal Investigator: Stephen Chia

Co-Investigators: Carolina Ilkow, Diane Lu, Muhammad Morshed, Tim Ramsay, Manish Sadarangani, Inna Sekirov, Theodore Steiner

Partner institutions: The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Methods Centre, BC Cancer, University of British Columbia, Public Health Ontario, BC Centre for Disease Control, Public Health Agency of Canada

For more information and to enroll: etudeC19study@ohri.ca; 613-737-7700 x79767.

About The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals, where excellent care is inspired by research and driven by compassion. As the third-largest employer in Ottawa, our support staff, researchers, nurses, physicians, and volunteers never stop seeking solutions to the most complex health-care challenges. Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, attracts some of the most influential scientific minds from around the world. Backed by generous support from the community, we are committed to providing the world-class, compassionate care we would want for our loved ones. www.ohri.ca

Media Contact 
Jenn Ganton
613-614-5253
jganton@ohri.ca