Oral versus intravenous antibiotic treatment for febrile neutropenia in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.
BACKGROUND
Neutropenia is one of the grave consequences of cancer chemotherapy, and the treatment of neutropenic febrile patients with intravenous (iv) antibiotics has been shown to reduce mortality. Oral therapy could be an alternative approach for selected patients.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the efficacy of oral antibiotics versus iv antibiotic therapy in febrile neutropenic cancer patients.


METHODS
The Cochrane Library, the Cochrane Cancer Network Register of trials, EMBASE, LILACS and MEDLINE, databases for ongoing trials and the conference proceedings of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).


METHODS
Randomized controlled trials comparing oral antibiotic/s and iv antibiotic/s for the treatment of neutropenic cancer patients with fever.


METHODS
Two reviewers independently assessed trial eligibility, methodological quality and extracted all data. Data concerning mortality, treatment failures and adverse events were drawn from included studies assuming an 'intention-to-treat' and 'per-protocol' basis for the outcome measures whenever possible. Relative risks (RR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous data were estimated.


RESULTS
Fifteen trials (median mortality 0, range 0%-8.8%) were included in the analyses. The mortality rate was similar comparing oral and iv antibiotic treatment (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.49-1.41, 2224 patients). Treatment failure rates were also similar (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.84-1.05, 15 trials). No significant heterogeneity was shown for the primary outcomes. This effect was stable in a wide range of patients. Quinolones alone or combined with other antibiotics were used with comparable results. Adverse reactions, mostly gastrointestinal, were more common with oral antibiotics.


CONCLUSIONS
Oral antibiotics may be safely offered to neutropenic patients with fever who are at low risk for mortality.
Vidal
Liat
L
Department of Medicine E, Beilinson Campus, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva 49100. liatvidal@hotmail.com
Paul
Mical
M
Ben dor
Itsik
I
Soares-Weiser
Karla
K
Leibovici
Leonard
L
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents