title: [Clinical study of itraconazole for systemic fungal infections complicated with hematological malignancies--multicenter cooperative study. West-Japan Systemic Fungal Infection Study Group].
abstract: Itraconazole, an oral antifungal agent, was evaluated for the clinical efficacy and safety in patients documented or suspected of systemic fungal infection (SFI) complicated with hematological malignancies. The data was also evaluated according to serological tests and fungal culture. Out of a total of 79 patients, the clinical efficacy of itraconazole was evaluated in 52 patients, comprising 4 patients with proven SFI, 33 with clinical SFI, and 15 with suspected SFI. The overall efficacy was 67.3% (35/52), in which 25.0% in the established SFI group (1/4), 78.8% in the clinical SFI group (26.33), and 53.3% in the suspected SFI (8/15). When assessed according to the severity of SFI, the effectiveness rates were 75.0% in the mild group (15/20), 76.2% in the moderate group (16/21), and 36.4% in the severe group (4/11), resulting in significantly higher rates in the mild and the moderate groups than in the severe group (p = 0.0479). Out of the 10 patients who were switched from the previous antifungals, 7 patients were judged as showing marked or good responses. All of these patients were switched from intravenous fluconazole therapy. With respect to the safety of itraconazole, among 79 patients eligible for safety evaluation, adverse events such as hepatic dysfunction, increase in GOT and/or GPT, nausea and vomiting, and chest pain were observed in 6 patients (7.6%), and itraconazole may have been associated with them. As a conclusion, itraconazole proved to be effective and safe on SFI developed in patients with various hematological malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiku
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuramoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niho
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009181:Mycoses / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D017964:Itraconazole