Candida infections among neutropenic patients

BACKGROUND Systemic candidiasis is a major complication in neutropenic cancer patients undergoing treatment. Most systemic fungal infections emerge from endogenous microflora so the aim of the present study was to identify Candida species isolated from the different regions of body in neutropenic patients in compare with the control group. METHODS A total of 309 neutropenic cancer patients and 584 patients without cancer (control group) entered in the study. Molecular identification of clinical isolates was performed by PCR-RFLP technique. RESULTS Twenty-two out of 309 patients had candidiasis (7.1%). Male to female ratio was 1/1 and age ranged from 23 to 66 years. Colorectal cancer and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were the most common cancers. Candida albicans was the most prevalent Candida species among neutropenic patients (50%) and control group (57.9%). Mortality rate in cancer patients was 13.6% in comparison with control group (5.2%). CONCLUSION Since candidiasis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in neutropenic patients, precise identification of Candida species by molecular techniques can be useful for the appropriate selection of antifungal drugs particularly in high risk patients.