Abstract
PurposeFebrile neutropenia (FN) is associated with infection-related mortality and a reduction of relative dose intensity during chemotherapy of malignant lymphoma. To prevent deaths and recover the attenuated efficacy of chemotherapies caused by FN, guidelines for the management of FN are published. The aim of this study is to clarify the degree to how much patients understand the FN.MethodsAn internet-based survey was employed to investigate the awareness of FN in Japanese patients who had received chemotherapies for malignant lymphoma.ResultsA total of 105 subjects were enrolled, of whom 64 (61.0%) received ambulatory treatment and 41 (39.0%) received primarily inpatient services. Sixty-four (61.0%) remembered receiving explanations of FN and 61 (95.3%) understood FN very well or almost well. Respondents who reported understanding received explanations from multiple medical staff that were similar to those from single medical staff. A total of 31 (29.5%) experienced FN and 17 of them developed FN at home. Only 8 (47.1%) visited or made contact with their hospitals within 3 h after onset at home.ConclusionsExplanatory procedures need to be addressed, since subjects’ levels of understanding were not proportionate to the number of elucidators. Although medical professionals made preliminary explanations, in fact, no more than half of those respondents who developed FN at home had made contact to their hospitals immediately. In conclusion, these results suggest that medical professionals should make more effort to lead patients to an understanding of the proper correspondences in case of FN onset.
Highlights
Malignant lymphoma is a chemosensitive tumor and a potentially curable disease with cytotoxic chemotherapies includingCHOP therapy
The most commonly observed and serious adverse event of cytotoxic chemotherapy is myelosuppression, especially neutropenia, which increases the risk of life-threatening bacterial infection
This guideline has been widely recognized by Support Care Cancer (2020) 28:4509–4516 medical staff involved in cancer chemotherapies
Summary
Malignant lymphoma is a chemosensitive tumor and a potentially curable disease with cytotoxic chemotherapies includingCHOP therapy. Malignant lymphoma is a chemosensitive tumor and a potentially curable disease with cytotoxic chemotherapies including. The most commonly observed and serious adverse event of cytotoxic chemotherapy is myelosuppression, especially neutropenia, which increases the risk of life-threatening bacterial infection. Febrile neutropenia (FN) is recognized as a medical emergency requiring empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics administration immediately, because a prolonged time-toantibiotic administration sometimes results in fatal outcome [1]. To prevent FN-related deaths and improve the efficacy of chemotherapies, guidelines for the use of antimicrobial agents in patients with FN were published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1997 [3] and updated in 2010 [4]. This guideline has been widely recognized by Support Care Cancer (2020) 28:4509–4516 medical staff involved in cancer chemotherapies. We have not yet verified whether the guide can contribute to a better management of FN in practice
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