Current treatments for infection in neutropenic patients with hematologic malignancy

Neutropenic patients with cancer are a heterogeneous group of patients who carry a variable risk for infection. When such patients present with fever, appropriate empiric antibiotic therapy is initiated and continued until clinical improvement or clinical or microbiologic data direct a modification in treatment. As the duration of neutropenia increases, so does the need for antimicrobial modifications. Changes in therapy may include antimicrobials directed against gram-positive bacteria, resistant gram-negative bacteria, or fungi. Because of the high risk for colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci, vancomycin use is restricted as first-line empiric therapy unless the patient is at a high risk for serious gram-positive infection. Usually in the setting of neutropenia, gram-positive infections are of low virulence. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy may increase the selection of resistant strains and should be avoided. Antibiotic therapy should always be combined with prudent infection-control measures, such as aseptic practices, barrier isolation, handwashing, removal of infected catheters, and infection monitoring. In the immunocompromised patient with cancer and neutropenia, all infections should be treated, with the extent, duration, and site of treatment being directed by risk stratification and specific pathogen identification. Patients with neutropenia are at risk for severe morbidity and mortality related to infection.