Project Overview

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has received funding under a five-year cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) for a project to improve rates of recommended vaccinations for adults with cancer and blood disorders. ASCO will select eight health systems to participate. Participation will involve performance measurement, performance improvement, education, and other activities.

ASCO is providing participating health systems with continuous quality improvement training, clinical guidance, assistance in monitoring progress of quality improvement initiatives, educational resources for providers and patients, and will disseminate best practices identified during the project.

Participation Details

  • Performance Period: September 30, 2021, through September 29, 2026
     
  • Project Participants:
    • CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock, Arkansas
    • Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Roseville, California
    • Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota
    • MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
    • Norton Cancer Institute in Louisville, Kentucky
    • Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas
    • Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, Washington
    • Sidney Kimmel Cancer – Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Project Activities

  • Continuous Quality Improvement: Awarded health systems’ staff participated in ASCO’s Quality Training Program (QTP) and graduated in June 2023. ASCO’s QTP provided Health Systems with training on quality improvement methodologies, education related to project goals, and coaching support.  Health system teams launched a QI project related to CDC's Standards of Adult Immunization Practice (SAIP) and will work on subsequent quality improvement initiatives while receiving additional QI training, coaching, and opportunities to disseminate results in ASCO meetings and symposia. 
     
  • Clinical Guidance: ASCO will publish a clinical practice guideline on the role of vaccination in adult cancer patients in early 2024. ASCO is working with an expert panel of clinicians with specialized training and/or experience in this topic.
     
  • Professional Education: Based upon needs identified in Quality Training activities, ASCO will develop courses for clinicians on ASCO's clinical practice guideline on vaccination and how to address vaccine hesitancy among patients with cancer. 
     
  • Patient Information: ASCO is developing patient fact sheets to assist patients in understanding the risk of communicable diseases and the importance of vaccination among adults with cancer and blood disorders. ASCO will make resources available through ASCO’s patient education website, Cancer.Net.

ASCO Resources on Improving Vaccinations for High-risk Adults

Clinical Guidance on Vaccination

Vaccination of Adults With Cancer: ASCO Guideline

Clinical Tools and Resources

Professional Education

Overview Video: Vaccination of Adults with Cancer ASCO Guideline

Vaccine Coding, Coverage, and Reimbursement

Patient Education

ASCO Answers: Getting Vaccines When You Have Cancer: English

ASCO Answers: Getting a COVID-19 Shot When You Have Cancer: English, Spanish (Español), Simplified Chinese

ASCO Answers: Getting a Flu Shot When You Have Cancer: English, Spanish (Español), Simplified Chinese

Should People with Cancer and Cancer Survivors Get the Flu Vaccine? English

COVID-19 Vaccines and People with Cancer: English, Spanish (Español)

Presentations from ASCO Scientific Meetings

Association of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations and personal protective measures with seroconversion and risk of infection in a large real-world cohort of patients with cancer. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Characteristics of SARSCOV2 infection in vaccinated patients with cancer in one Latin American country: Real world evidence from ACHOCC19-VAC study. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck squamous cell cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors according to COVID-19 vaccination status. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

COVID-19 vaccination, infection, and symptoms among cancer survivors in the United States during 2021. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cancer: Results from survey based observational study. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Effect of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine booster in serologically negative patients with thymic epithelial tumors. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Efficacy of COVID vaccination in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the management of patients with cancer? What is the impact of anti-cancer medications on the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccinations? ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Hypersensitivity reaction to taxanes following COVID-19 vaccination. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Impact of vaccine hesitancy on antibody response after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with cancer. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Increasing COVID-19 vaccine adherence within an immunocompromised patient population in a community practice. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Quality improvement interventions targeting vaccine uptake in cancer patients: A systematic review. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

The safety of seasonal influenza vaccination among patients prescribed immune checkpoint inhibitors: A self-controlled case series study using administrative data. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.

Increasing influenza and COVID-19 vaccination assessment rate in medical oncology clinics at a safety-net hospital. ASCO Quality Care Symposium, 2023.

Improving bivalent COVID-19 vaccination rates among adult patients with cancer: An ASCO/CDC initiative. ASCO Quality Care Symposium, 2023.