Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — New research reveals the Covid-19 vaccine could help boost the survival rate of cancer patients.

A US study from last year 2025 showed patients with lung cancer or melanoma were almost twice as likely to survive for three years when they had the Covid mRNA vaccine within 100 days of taking cancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

University of Auckland professor John Fraser has been testing whether the study from last year could apply to a New Zealand context.

"I'm excited because the Covid vaccine wasn't meant for treating cancer, it was meant for providing protection against the Covid virus," Fraser said.

He said the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) molecules in the Covid vaccine might better recognize tumors because it’s believed to sensitize a patient's immune system.

"I'm interested in whether you can improve cancer survival even more by designing a different type of mRNA vaccine. Increasing the effectiveness might be as simple as administering the vaccine closer to the tumor, rather than in the arm muscle."

Fraser has launched research looking at outcomes for melanoma patients who received immune checkpoint inhibitors and had the Covid vaccine between August 2021 and March 2022.

During this period of the pandemic, 95 percent of New Zealanders received the Covid mRNA vaccine.

“There was such intense controversy around the Covid vaccine, despite it being highly effective, so it would be wonderful if something good could come out of that difficult period," says Fraser.

Fraser played a key role in establishing the New Zealand RNA Development Platform, because of the promise that harnessing RNA could result in new treatments for a range of health problems. 

He is now a science advisor for the platform and is developing an mRNA vaccine against staphylococcus.

As soon as funding can be found, Fraser and his team plan to launch a clinical trial for people with lung cancer.

The trial would test a combination of the Covid mRNA vaccine and ICI drugs.

Fraser had hope that if the trial proves the vaccine improves survival rates for lung cancer patients, it could then be used to help people with other types of cancer.

“There's new evidence emerging that mRNA helps the immune system fight many types of cancer, including cancers that wouldn't usually be susceptible to immune checkpoint inhibitors."
Fraser explained that ICI drugs work by activating the body's immune system to fight cancer. Meanwhile the mRNA in vaccines guides cells to make proteins that trigger an immune response against disease.

He said currently ICI only helps about 30 percent of patients with lung cancer or melanoma to survive for three years or more with no progression of their cancer.

Fraser added that Māori have a 30 percent higher death rate from lung cancer than other New Zealanders, which would have an important role in the trial.

Public funding for ICI drugs has been available since 2016 for patients with metastatic and advanced melanoma in the country.

The plan was to compare anonymized data about melanoma patients who received ICI but did not get the Covid vaccine with data for patients who received both.

Results from that study are expected by the end of July next year.

The research team includes Dr Laird Cameron, Dr Daisy Mak and Dr Gareth Rivalland from the University's Department of Cancer Sciences, and University General Practice and Primary Healthcare researchers Dr Janine Paynter and Dr David Broderick.

Fraser's study has received $60,000 of funding from the Li Liangren Family Trust which donated $10 million for cancer research at the University in 2015.