A Recent Trend in Chemotherapy for Deep-Seated Mycosis

Abstract

Increasingly high incidence of deep-seated mycosis in immunocompromised patients with underlying diseases such as hematopoietic malignancies, solid tumors, organ transplants and AIDS has presented serious problems in recent years in Japan due to difficulties in treatment and high mortality.At present, only 4 antifungal agents are available to treat these disease in Japan; amphotericin B, flucytosine, miconazole and fluconazole.But the treatment of deep-seated mycosis is limited due to difficulties of early diagnosis and side effects by amphotericin B.The antifungal agents and recent advance in chemotherapy for deep-seated mycosis are reviewed from the literature on the following points; antifungal agents at present and in future, improvement and dosage form modification of existing antifungal agents, new attempts for reducing adverse events and new informations about the adverse events and the interactions of antifungal agents. Besides antifungal agents, adjuvant therapies with immunomodifiers (BRM) and cytokines play an important role in the treatment of mycosis, but I narrowed down the focus to only antifungal agents in this paper.