Recent COVID vaccination (<100 days) before glioblastoma surgery associated with significantly longer survival (318 vs 743 days median survival)
According to a retrospective single-center cohort study of adults with newly diagnosed glioblastoma undergoing initial biopsy or resection from 2021 to 2025, covid vaccination within 100 days before first tumor surgery was associated with significantly longer median overall survival: 743 days in vaccinated patients versus 318 days in unvaccinated patients. The analysis accounted for adjuvant therapy, surgery year, extent of resection, steroid exposure, immune-cell measures, and COVID hospitalization. Of note, other vaccines (influenza, pneumonia and singles) showed no association with survival. Authors concluded, "These findings identify perioperative vaccination timing as a potentially relevant and modifiable variable in glioblastoma outcomes." The original study is linked here while an article summarizing its findings can be found here.
This is consistent with other findings in the literature. For example, a case-control retrospective study from 2024 found that covid accelerated glioblastoma tumor progression in the first two months after infection.
Bottom line: Avoiding covid and getting the covid vaccine before 100 days of tumor resection may significantly improve survival, both statistically and clinically.