This study aimed to identify the rate and impact of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal (VRE) bacteremia in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving induction chemotherapy (IC). Thirty-seven (10.6%) of 350 patients had VRE bacteremia during IC, with increasing rates of VRE bacteremia over the course of the study period. The overall complete remission (CR) rate for the cohort was 73%, and there was no difference in CR rate between the VRE bacteremia and non-VRE bacteremia cohorts (70% vs. 73%, p = 0.70). Unadjusted median overall survival (OS) was 12.8 months, and differed significantly between those with and without VRE bacteremia (7.1 months vs. 13.1 months, respectively; p = 0.03). The presence of VRE bacteremia during IC for AML was independently associated with increased all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval 1.13-2.63, p = 0.01).
Keywords: AML; VRE; enterococcus; induction chemotherapy; leukemia; survival.