ArticleCancer medicine2021
The role of procalcitonin in identifying high-risk cancer patients with febrile neutropenia: A useful alternative to the multinational association for supportive care in cancer score.
Article in Cancer medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review of Interventions to Optimize Emergency Department Care of Patients with Cancer.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Development and Validation of a Prognostic Risk Score for Patients With Cancer and Neutropenic Fever Presenting to the Emergency Department.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
- Correlation between MASCC score and the evolution of febrile neutropenia in patients with solid tumors: a retrospective study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin in the Diagnosis of Sepsis in Cancer Patients Hospitalized for Infection.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Observational
- Improving Prognostic Accuracy of MASCC Score with Lactate and CRP Measurements in Febrile Neutropenic Patients.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- High procalcitonin level is related to blood stream infections, gram-negative pathogens, and ICU admission in infections of adult febrile cancer patients.Journal of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute · 2025Article
- PCT-to-albumin ratio and CRP-to-albumin ratio as predictors of febrile neutropenia complications: a prospective observational trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Observational
- Article
- Serum Albumin as a Prognostic Biomarker for Febrile Neutropenia Outcome and Complications: A Prospective Observational Trial.Clinical Medicine Insights. Oncology · 2024Article
- Procalcitonin as a biomarker for predicting bacterial infection in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy recipients.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Procalcitonin for antimicrobial stewardship among cancer patients admitted with COVID-19.eLife · 2022Article
- The role of procalcitonin in identifying high-risk cancer patients with febrile neutropenia: A useful alternative to the multinational association for supportive care in cancer score.Cancer medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk index has been utilized to determine the risk for poor clinical outcomes in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN) in an emergency center (EC). However, this index comprises subjective elements and elaborated metrics limiting its use in ECs. We sought to determine whether procalcitonin (PCT) level (biomarker of bacterial infection) with or without lactate level (marker of inadequate tissue perfusion) offers a potential alternative to MASSC score in predicting the outcomes of patients with FN presenting to an EC.
methodsWe retrospectively identified 550 cancer patients with FN who presented to our EC between April 2018, and April 2019, and had serum PCT and lactate levels measured.
resultsCompared with patients with PCT levels <0.25 ng/ml, those with levels ≥0.25 ng/ml had a significantly higher 14-day mortality rate (5.2% vs. 0.7%; p = 0.002), a higher bloodstream infection (BSI) rate, and a longer hospital length of stay (LOS). Logistic regression analysis showed that patients with PCT levels ≥0.25 ng/ml and lactate levels >2.2 mmol/L were more likely to be admitted and have an LOS >7 days, BSI, and 14-day mortality than patients with lower levels. PCT level was a significantly better predictor of BSI than MASSC score (p = 0.003) or lactate level (p < 0.0001).
conclusionsProcalcitonin level is superior to MASCC index in predicting BSI. The combination of PCT and lactate levels is a good predictor of BSI, hospital admission, and 14-day mortality and could be useful in identifying high-risk FN patients who require hospital admission.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.