In a grim reminder of the toll COVID-19 can take even among those who are vaccinated against it, former Secretary of State Colin Powell died Monday of complications from the virus. His family said Powell, who was 84, was fully vaccinated against the disease.
Powell’s family said he also had multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body’s immune response, which likely compounded the effects of the virus on his immune system.
We spoke with CU Cancer Center member Dan Sherbenou, MD, PhD, an associate professor of hematology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, about the potential effects of COVID-19 on multiple myeloma patients and why all cancer patients should get booster shots to help their immune systems fight the virus.