Invasive fungal infections in hematology: new trends

Abstract

Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are among the most feared complications of patients being treated for a hematological malignancy. Currently, most serious IFI occur in patients with acute leukemia and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Although Candida albicans and Aspergillusspp. continue to be the main pathogens, the proportion of patients infected by non-albicans species of Candida and other yeasts and by other filamentous fungi is rising in most institutions. Risk factors for the various IFI differ, and it is thus of utmost importance to realize that not all patients are the same with respect to the risk for developing the various IFI. Recent advances in diagnosis now allow the use of very sensitive imaging techniques with an extremely low negative predictive value. Among the novel microbiologic methods, the galactomannan antigen test is now commercially available for routine use in the diagnosis of aspergillosis, while DNA fungal detection is still experimental. For the first time, clinicians now have a broad range of antifungals to chose from, with special emphasis on amphotericin B preparations, novel broad-spectrum azoles, and the echinocandins. However, the exact place of these agents in treating different IFI will need to be found in the near future.