Our immune system protects us against illness and infection. Flu (influenza) vaccine works by inducing our body to generate antibodies against future infection from flu viruses. However, in patients who are immunosuppressed (during chemotherapy, organ transplant, etc), our body may not be able to generate rigorous antibodies as compared when we were not immuno-suppressed.
However, patients who are immunosuppressed probably need the protection even more than healthy persons. Thus, most oncologists recommend their patients to get flu vaccine knowing that the antibody responses may not be as good. For most patients, the benefits are usually still outweigh the risks. Do be aware, just like anything in medicine, there are side effects (fever, weakness, serious reaction, etc) that come with the vaccine. Do discuss them with your oncologists since flu season is coming.
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