Patients with malignant lymphomas experience a higher rate of documented infections than patients with breast cancer after high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation
O. Sezer et al., Patients with malignant lymphomas experience a higher rate of documented infections than patients with breast cancer after high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation, ANN HEMATOL, 79(11), 2000, pp. 627-630
The influence of underlying disease on documented infections has rarely bee
n addressed in patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and subs
equent autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Becau
se autografting has been used most frequently for malignant lymphomas and b
reast cancer, we analyzed in a retrospective study the data of 100 consecut
ive adult patients with either malignant lymphomas (group A, n = 50) or bre
ast cancer (group B, n = 50) treated with HDCT at a single institution. The
number of autografted CD34 + cells was not statistically different in eith
er group. In this paper, we show for the first time that there is a signifi
cant difference in clinically or microbiologically documented infections in
these groups of patients: documented infections occurred in 30% of maligna
nt lymphoma patients but only in 4% of breast cancer patients (P=0.001). Of
all isolated microorganisms, 78% were gram-positive. Because most of the d
ocumented infections were due to staphylococci, further studies should pros
pectively evaluate preventive measures to reduce the high incidence of thes
e infections. This is especially important for lymphoma patients, who can b
e regarded as a high-risk group concerning gram-positive bacteremia.