McGovern students co-author major mRNA vaccine Nature study
McGovern Medical School student Sage Copling helped lead a new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center studying the effects of mRNA-based COVID vaccines on the survival rates of cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint therapy.
“This was a deeply humbling experience. I started this project in my second month of medical school and watched it grow over time into a robust translational study with the potential to shift the paradigm on how we treat cancer,” Copling said. “My goal in life is to be a physician-scientist and take observations from the bench to help patients at the bedside, and this project was a great model of how I can pursue my dreams in the future.”
Copling was a co-first author on the study, which was led by Steven Lin, MD, PhD, professor of radiation oncology at MD Anderson and a faculty member at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Adam Grippin, MD, PhD, senior resident in radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study was presented at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress and published in Nature.
The study examined the impact of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines on cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. Data was collected on more than 1,000 patients between 2019 and 2023 and outcomes were compared between those that received an mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy and those who did not receive a COVID mRNA vaccine.
Interestingly, this study found that patients who received an mRNA vaccine near the start of treatment demonstrated improved survival relative to those patients who never received an mRNA vaccination. For example, patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were vaccinated within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived a median of 37.3 months compared to just 20.6 months for unvaccinated patients. These observed survival benefits were similar in patients with low PD-L1 expression, who traditionally have poorer responses to immunotherapy.
“The most exciting part of this discovery is the fact that these findings support the development of a universal, low-cost cancer mRNA vaccine that acts independently of antigen specificity, using the body’s own innate immune response to mRNA in order to help mount a response against cancer,” Copling said. “This is particularly helpful because many patients don’t benefit from immune checkpoint inhibition, despite it being a very common immunotherapy.”
For Copling, being part of such an important study is reassurance that he chose the right path in pursuing his medical education at McGovern Medical School.
“I really think this study showed me how powerful McGovern Medical School is as an institution. We’re in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest hub of medical innovation and patient interaction,” Copling said. “For those students who are interested in research, our school has the resources and locations to provide unmatched opportunities. McGovern Medical School’s proximity to the biggest medical cancer center in the world, as someone interested in cancer research, was one of the reasons that it was at the top of my list when it came time to choose where I wanted to learn the art of medicine.”
Copling thanked third-year McGovern Medical School students Andy Kim, Nina Nariman, and Jordan Jafarnia, for co-authoring on the paper.
“Their help with clinical data collection was crucial in helping this paper take off,” Copling said.