Abstract
A major consequence of the intensive multi-modal chemotherapy commonly used to treat malignancies in childhood is life-threatening infection, frequently during periods of profound neutropenia. Recent advances have been made in all areas of management, from trying to prevent infection to getting patients off antimicrobials and home again in the shortest, safest way. Potential avenues of further research are outlined for readers to be aware of in the next few years.
Highlights
The knotty problem of dealing with children undergoing immunosuppressive treatment for cancer to prevent and treat, but not overtreat, potential life-threatening infection continues to intrigue and enrage clinical academics working in this field
The challenges lie in reducing the chance of an infection developing and leaping upon infections quickly to maximize the likely outcomes but discontinuing antibiotic treatments and hospitalization to reduce the adverse psychological, social, and medical effects of being an in-patient
Systematic reviews of the use of specialized “low-bacterial diets” to decrease the risk of bacterial translocation across the gut wall have demonstrated little benefit for this approach[1], which is confirmed in a specific comparative study in children[2]
Summary
Faculty Reviews are review articles written by the prestigious Members of Faculty Opinions. The articles are commissioned and peer reviewed before publication to ensure that the final, published version is comprehensive and accessible. The reviewers who approved the final version are listed with their names and affiliations. 1. Peter E Newburger, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA. 2. Rejin Kebudi, Oncology Institute, Istanbul University & Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University-Cerrahpsa, Istanbul, Turkey. Any comments on the article can be found at the end of the article
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