{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T02:08:00Z","timestamp":1783908480888,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]],"date-time":"2026-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772323200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Rituximab-treated patients with B-cell lymphoma exhibit profound B-cell depletion and impaired vaccine-induced antibody responses. However, it remains uncertain whether recovery of peripheral B-cell counts after rituximab is sufficient to restore effective humoral immunity following booster vaccination.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Patients and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this prospective, single-center observational study at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, adult B-cell lymphoma patients treated with or previously exposed to rituximab received the Comirnaty\u00ae mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleoprotein were measured at baseline, 14 days after the second dose, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. A third dose was administered at 6 months. T-cell responses (IFN-\u03b3 release) were assessed in patients before and after the primary series and booster dose. Lymphocyte subsets were analysed pre-vaccination. Adverse events and nutritional status were monitored.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Patients undergoing anti-CD20 therapy showed absent antibody responses. Longer intervals since rituximab correlated with peripheral B-cell repopulation. However, even after reaching normal B-cell counts, patients\u2019 antibody responses after revaccination remained significantly lower than in controls.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Rituximab is associated with impaired vaccine-induced antibody responses. Despite recovery of peripheral B-cell counts, patients with B-cell lymphoma show reduced humoral responses compared with healthy individuals following booster COVID-19 vaccination.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2478\/raon-2026-0014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T17:23:29Z","timestamp":1774373009000},"page":"76-85","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Impaired booster-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in rituximab-treated B-cell lymphoma patients despite peripheral B-Cell Recovery"],"prefix":"10.2478","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"Tomaz","family":"Jurca","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucka","family":"Boltezar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miha","family":"Orazem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kristina Fujs","family":"Komlos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katka","family":"Pohar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Jevnikar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Poljak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denis Mlakar","family":"Mastnak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nada Rotovnik","family":"Kozjek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bor","family":"Vratanar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janja","family":"Ocvirk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Primorska , Izola , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alojz","family":"Ihan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026071216052956435_j_raon-2026-0014_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yang L, Chai P, Yu J, Fan X. 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