Novel antifungal drugs against fungal pathogens: do they provide promising results for treatment?

The febrile neutropenia episodes of hematological patients and their outcomes were evaluated with respect to fungal pathogens and antifungal therapy in this retrospective study. All patients, who were older than 14 years of age and developed at least one neutropenic episode after chemotherapy due to hematological cancer from November 2010 to November 2012, were included into the study. We retrospectively collected demographic, treatment, and survival data of 126 patients with neutropenia and their 282 febrile episodes. The mean Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer score was 17.18 ± 8.27. Systemic antifungal drugs were initiated in 22 patients with 30 culture-proven invasive fungal infections (IFIs), 25 attacks of 19 patients with probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), 42 attacks of 38 patients with possible IPA, and 31 attacks of 30 patients with suspected IFI. Voriconazole (VOR), caspofungin and liposomal amphotericin B were used to treat 72 episodes of 65 patients, 45 episodes of 37 patients and 34 episodes of 32 patients as a first-line therapy, respectively. Unfavorable conditions of our hematology ward are thought to increase the number of cases with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and VOR use. It should be taken into consideration that increased systemic and per oral VOR usage predisposes patients to colonization and infection with azole-resistant fungal strains. Catheters should be removed in cases where patients' conditions are convenient to remove it. Acute myeloblastic leukemia cases that are more likely to develop invasive fungal infections should be monitored closely for early diagnosis and timely initiation of antifungal drugs which directly correlates with survival rates.