Breakthrough invasive fungal diseases in acute myeloid leukemia patients receiving mould active triazole primary prophylaxis after intensive chemotherapy: An Italian consensus agreement on definitions and management.

In the attempt to establish definitions and provide shared approaches to breakthrough invasive fungal diseases (br-IFD) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients submitted to intensive chemotherapy and receiving triazoles as mould active primary antifungal prophylaxis (MA-PAP), literature on br-IFD in AML patients receiving triazoles MA-PAP was reviewed and a Consensus Development Conference Project was convened. The following four candidate key-questions were generated and formed the set of questions of the present document: "definition of br-IFD," "diagnostic strategy during MA-PAP to detect br-IFD," "possible causes of MA-PAP failure," "management of br-IFD."

Fungaemia in haematological malignancies: SEIFEM-2015 survey.

Background: Fungal infections are still a relevant challenge for clinicians involved in the cure of patients with cancer. We retrospectively reviewed charts of hospitalized patients with haematological malignancies (HMs), in which a documented fungaemia was diagnosed between January 2011 and December 2015 at 28 adult and 6 paediatric Italian Hematology Departments.

Methods: During the study period, we recorded 215 fungal bloodstream infections (BSI).

Infections associated with immunotherapeutic and molecular targeted agents in hematology and oncology. A position paper by the European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL).

A multitude of new agents for the treatment of hematologic malignancies has been introduced over the past decade. Hematologists, infectious disease specialists, stem cell transplant experts, pulmonologists and radiologists have met within the framework of the European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL) to provide a critical state-of-the-art on infectious complications associated with immunotherapeutic and molecular targeted agents used in clinical routine. For brentuximab vedotin, blinatumomab, CTLA4- and PD-1/PD-L1-inhibitors as well as for ibrutinib, idelalisib, HDAC inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, ruxolitinib, and venetoclax, a detailed review of data available until August 2018 has been conducted, and specific recommendations for prophylaxis, diagnostic and differential diagnostic procedures as well as for clinical management have been developed.

Febrile events in acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a prospective observational multicentric SEIFEM study (SEIFEM-2012/B ALL).

The purpose of the present study is to estimate the current incidence of febrile events (FEs) and infectious episodes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and evaluate the outcome. We analyzed data on all FEs in a cohort of patients affected by ALL admitted to 20 Italian hematologic centers during 21 months of observation from April 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013. Data about treatment phase, steroids, neutropenia, type and site of infection, and outcome of infection were collected.

SEIFEM 2017: from real life to an agreement on the use of granulocyte transfusions and colony-stimulating factors for prophylaxis and treatment of infectious complications in patients with hematologic malignant disorders.

The rapid spread of severe infections mainly due to resistant pathogens, justifies the search for therapies aiming to restore immune functions severely compromised in patients with hematologic malignancies. Areas covered: The present review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of granulocyte transfusions and colony-stimulating factors as treatment strategy for hematologic patients with serious infectious complications. In addition, a survey among 21 hematologic centers, to evaluate the clinical practice for the use of G-CSF originator and biosimilars was performed.