Data presented at ESMO and at MD Anderson indicate that patients who received an mRNA COVID‑19 vaccine within 100 days prior to starting immune checkpoint inhibitors had longer survival than those who did not. The findings come from retrospective analyses and institutional presentations, and investigators hypothesize vaccine‑driven immune activation may augment anti‑tumor immune responses. The University of Texas MD Anderson group and University of Florida researchers reported the observations at the conference and in institutional releases; STAT also summarized the evolving evidence. Authors cautioned that the data are observational and that mechanisms remain under study. For oncologists and immunotherapy developers: the signal suggests temporal interactions between systemic immunomodulation from vaccines and checkpoint inhibitor efficacy merit prospective evaluation and mechanistic work to guide treatment sequencing.