[Infection in genitourinary cancer patients during cancer chemotherapy]

To examine the frequency and the type of infection during cancer chemotherapy in the urological field, we studied the causes of fever in 67 patients with genitourinary cancer. Twenty-six patients had developed a fever of higher than 38 degrees C. Although fever without proven infection was seen in 11 patients (42.3%), fever caused by pyelonephritis was the most common infection. There was a relationship between fever and the presence of hydronephrosis. Fever was observed more often in patients with a leucocyte count of less than 2,000 white blood cell/mm3. In conclusion, we recommend the interruption of cancer chemotherapy or the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the prevention of infection, when the leukocyte count is less than 2,000 cell/mm3, especially in patients with hydronephrosis.