Amphotericin B or ketoconazole therapy of fungal infections in neutropenic cancer patients.

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Fainstein, Vladislav Bodey, Gerald Paul Keating, Michael J.
Copyright Year	1987
Abstract	Fungal infections in neutropenic cancer patients have increased in frequency and constitute an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Empiric antifungal therapy is often administered to those patients who have failed to respond to antibacterial antibiotics. We conducted a prospective, randomized trial of amphotericin B and ketoconazole for 172 neutropenic cancer patients with presumed or proven fungal infections. Overall, amphotericin B and ketoconazole were equally effective. Amphotericin B may have been more effective than ketoconazole for the treatment of pneumonia. Also, five of eight Candida tropicalis infections treated with amphotericin B responded, whereas all eight infections treated with ketoconazole failed to respond (P = 0.03). Response rates for localized fungal infections were similar with both drugs. Ketoconazole should not be used as empiric antifungal therapy at institutions where there is a high frequency of infections caused by Aspergillus spp. or C. tropicalis because this agent lacks activity in vitro against these species.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://aac.asm.org/content/31/1/11.full.pdf
PubMed reference number	3566234v1
Volume Number	31
Issue Number	1
Journal	Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Amphotericin B Anti-Bacterial Agents Antifungal Agents Candida tropicalis Infection Ketoconazole Lung Diseases, Fungal Morbidity - disease rate Mycoses Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Patients Pneumonia antifungal therapy
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article