Efficacy and safety of voriconazole as invasive fungal infection prophylaxis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

• Published in: Leukemia & lymphoma Vol. 63; no. 10; pp. 2330 - 2335
• Main Authors: Machherndl-Spandl, Sigrid, Vockenhuber, Thomas, Binder, Michaela, Weltermann, Ansgar, Apfalter, Petra, Lass-Flörl, Cornelia, Girschikofsky, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 24.08.2022
• Subjects: drug resistance; infectious complications; Myeloid leukemias and dysplasias; Myeloid leukemias and dysplasias; drug resistance; infectious complications
• ISSN: 1042-8194; 1029-2403
• DOI: 10.1080/10428194.2022.2068006

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are commonly observed in patients, who are at high risk of severe infections during the neutropenic phase. The aim of this retrospective single-center study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of voriconazole as a fungal prophylaxis after induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adult patients. Six proven/probable IFIs were diagnosed in 213 patients with AML (median age 61 years, range 18-85), who received a total of 377 induction chemotherapies. This yielded an incidence rate of 1.6% based on all induction cycles administered. Voriconazole prophylaxis was administered as intended in 317 out of 377 (84%) induction cycles until the end of neutropenia with a median duration of 20 days (range: 2-101 days). In conclusion, voriconazole demonstrates efficacy and safety as a first-line IFI prophylaxis comparable to published data on posaconazole, which is the standard fungal prophylaxis recommendation for AML patients in international guidelines today.