Antibiotic therapy of bacterial infections in oncology

Abstract

Infections are among the most important problems of contemporary oncology. Not only are they responsible for a significant part of cancer mortality, but they are also frequent complications of cancer treatment. Immunosuppression, predominantly due to chemotherapy, predisposes oncological patients to infections, caused not only by the typical bacteria, but also by opportunistic microorganisms. This leads to widespread use of antimicrobial agents in oncological practice, and forces physicians taking care of patients with cancer to become experts in antibiotic therapy. Unfortunately, the efforts to combat infections have been hampered by the phenomenon of increasing antibiotic resistance among bacterial species. Multiple cases of infections with bacteria resistant to all, or almost all, known antibiotics have been described. Complications of antibiotic therapy, especially Clostridium difficile infections are also a growing concern. The results of studies confirm that proper antibiotic therapy not only improves cure rates of infections but also helps diminish antibiotic usage and therefore may contribute to a reduction of antibiotic resistance among bacteria. The aim of this paper is to disseminate knowledge about proper antimicrobial treatment with special emphasis on topics related to oncology and recent discoveries in this field.