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Invasive Mold Infections in Patients with Chronic Lymphoproliferative Disorders

  • Current Management of Fungal Infections (J Maertens, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

This review summarizes data about epidemiology, treatment, and risk factors for invasive fungal infections (IFI) in patients affected by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), multiple myeloma (MM), and indolent non Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL).

Recent Findings

Despite advances in the prognosis and treatment of hematological malignancies in recent years, susceptibility to infection remains a significant challenge to patient care. A large amount of data regarding patients with acute leukemias have been published while little information is available on incidence of IFI in chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (CLD).

Summary

The overall incidence of IFI in CLL patients is reported from 1.3 to 7.8% and the main risk factors are related to disease status (high-risk in relapsed/refractory disease), number of previous chemotherapy regimens, and Ig levels.

In MM, most of the IFI occurred during refractory or progressive disease. The rate of IFI ranges from 0.5 to 12.3%. Neutropenia is the main risk factor in MM and risk seems to be related to its duration and severity. The overall incidence of IFI in iNHL ranges from 0.5 to 4% and the most important risk factors are disease status (high-risk in relapsed/refractory and advance stage disease) and type of treatment (high-risk for steroid administration, intensive chemotherapy with prolonged neutropenia, use of monoclonal antibodies and purine analogs).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hematology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata di Verona, Verona, Italy

    Davide Facchinelli, Gessica Marchesini & Gianpaolo Nadali

  2. Institute of Haematology, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli–IRCCS, Università Cattolica S. Cuore, Rome, Italy

    Livio Pagano

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  1. Davide Facchinelli
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Correspondence to Davide Facchinelli.

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Livio Pagano is a board member and speaker on behalf of Gilead, MSD, Pfizer, Basilea, and Janssen.

Davide Facchinelli, Gessica Marchesini, and Gianpaolo Nadali declare that they have no competing interests.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Current Management of Fungal Infections

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Facchinelli, D., Marchesini, G., Nadali, G. et al. Invasive Mold Infections in Patients with Chronic Lymphoproliferative Disorders. Curr Fungal Infect Rep 12, 179–186 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-018-0327-8

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