Abstract
Infections are serious complications of cytoreductive therapy in pediatric cancer patients presenting with febrile neutropenia. It is standard of care to initiate empirical intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics until the fever and neutropenia resolve. However, it might be effective and safe to allow for early hospital discharge in certain subgroups of patients. Two strategies for risk stratification of pediatric cancer patients with regard to infectious complications are discussed in this review: (1) clinical risk parameters and laboratory measures to assist therapeutic management at presentation with fever in neutropenia, and (2) investigations of individual genetic susceptibility factors to tailor potential prophylactic approaches. Given the data available from a significant number of small studies, a large prospective non-inferiority trial is essential to assess low-risk clinical factors and additional laboratory or genetic markers for their predictive value.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Pediatric Blood and Cancer |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 767-773 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 1545-5009 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11.2007 |
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
