Invasive fungal disease in children with solid tumors: An Australian multicenter 10-year review

Neha Jain; Anne L Ryan; Gabrielle M Haeusler; Brendan J McMullan; Andrew S Moore; Adam W Bartlett; Christopher C Blyth; Rishi S Kotecha; Daniel K Yeoh; Julia E Clark

doi:10.1002/pbc.31031

Invasive fungal disease in children with solid tumors: An Australian multicenter 10-year review

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Apr 28:e31031. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31031. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Neha Jain^{1

2}, Anne L Ryan^{1

2}, Gabrielle M Haeusler^{3

4

5

6

7

8}, Brendan J McMullan^{4

9

10}, Andrew S Moore^{11

12}, Adam W Bartlett^{9

13}, Christopher C Blyth^{14

15

16

17}, Rishi S Kotecha^{1

2

18}, Daniel K Yeoh^{4

5

6

14}, Julia E Clark^{19

20}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Haematology, Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
² Telethon Kids Cancer Centre, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
³ Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ National Centre for Infections in Cancer, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Department of Infectious Diseases, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ The Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Women's and Children's Health, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹¹ Oncology Service, Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹² Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹³ Kirby Institute, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁶ Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁷ School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁸ Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁹ Infection Management Service, Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
²⁰ School of Clinical Medicine, Children's Health Queensland Clinical Unit, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

PMID: 38679843
DOI: 10.1002/pbc.31031

Abstract

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) occurs less frequently during treatment for solid compared to hematological malignancies in children, and risk groups are poorly defined. Retrospective national multicenter cohort data (2004-2013) were analyzed to document prevalence, clinical characteristics, and microbiology of IFD. Amongst 2067 children treated for solid malignancy, IFD prevalence was 1.9% overall and 1.4% for proven/probable IFD. Of all IFD episodes, 42.5% occurred in patients with neuroblastoma (prevalence 7.0%). Candida species comprised 54.8% of implicated pathogens in proven/probable IFD. In children with solid tumors, IFD is rare, and predominantly caused by yeasts.Routine prophylaxis may not be warranted.

Keywords: cancer; children; invasive fungal disease; prevalence; prophylaxis; solid tumors.