title: Evaluation of febrile neutropenic episodes in adult patients with solid tumors.
abstract: The clinical use of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents has increased survival in cancer patients. However, treatment-associated bone marrow suppression and neutropenia often render patients prone to life-threatening infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate episodes of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with solid tumors, and identify the microorganisms and the factors affecting mortality. A total of 100 primary febrile attacks in cancer patients who were followed up at the Department of Oncology of the Akdeniz University Medical Faculty Hospital between January, 2011 and May, 2012, were retrospectively investigated. FN attacks were classified in three groups as follows: Fever of unknown origin, clinically documented infections and microbiologically documented infections. We found that prolonged neutropenia, Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) score <21 and the presence of metastasis increased mortality. We also compared the three groups of infection categories according to mortality rate, but did not observe any significant differences among these groups. Patients with malignancies should be assessed individually during the FN episodes. It is crucial to keep possible infectious pathogens in mind and evaluate the MASCC score, neutropenia duration and metastatic status of the patients, and start empirical antibiotic therapy immediately.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectiology and Microbiology, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yapici
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectiology and Microbiology, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gunseren
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectiology and Microbiology, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hafize
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yapici
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alparslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merdin
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectiology and Microbiology, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ülkü Üser
authors.initials: ÜÜ
authors.lastname: Yaylali
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatma Avci
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Merdin
keywords: febrile neutropenia; risc score; solid tumor