Novel plasma telomerase detection method to improve cancer diagnostic assessment.

Background: The activity levels of telomerase and its mRNA have been found to be more diagnostically sensitive than cytological results in many cancerous tissues and correlate well with the clinical disease stage. Currently, there are several methods of detecting telomerase in tissues and in blood. The most commonly used method is a conventional quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which is time and labor exhausting.

Identification and characterization of catheter-related bloodstream infections due to viridans group streptococci in patients with cancer.

Viridans group streptococci (VGS), a leading cause of bloodstream infection (BSI) in cancer patients, are thought to arise from the gastrointestinal tract. We sought to determine whether central venous catheters may serve as the source of VGS BSI, and to compare the ability of the newly proposed mucosal barrier injury laboratory-confirmed BSI definition to assign a VGS BSI source compared with the catheter-related BSI definition.

The utility of proadrenomedullin and procalcitonin in comparison to C-reactive protein as predictors of sepsis and bloodstream infections in critically ill patients with cancer*.

Objectives: Infections in critically ill patients continue to impose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We seek to investigate the utility of proadrenomedullin and procalcitonin as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in febrile critically ill patients with cancer and compare their performance with that of C-reactive protein.

Design: Single-center prospective cohort study.

Pro-adrenomedullin as a novel biomarker for predicting infections and response to antimicrobials in febrile patients with hematologic malignancies.

Background: Health professionals and researchers have become increasingly interested in biomarkers that help them in diagnosis of infections with recent growing attention to procalcitonin (PCT) and pro-adrenomedullin (proADM).

Methods: This study compares proADM to PCT as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of infection in febrile patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs). From June 2009 to December 2010, 340 febrile HM patients were evaluated for presence of sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), documented infections, and response to antimicrobial therapy.

Can procalcitonin distinguish infectious fever from tumor-related fever in non-neutropenic cancer patients?

Background: Procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as a marker of infection and was studied in neutropenic patients. This study investigated its role in non-neutropenic febrile cancer patients (NNCPs).

Methods: Between July 2009 and July 2010, a total of 248 NNCPs with fever were studied.

Rhodococcus bacteremia in cancer patients is mostly catheter related and associated with biofilm formation.

Rhodococcus is an emerging cause of opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients, most commonly causing cavitary pneumonia. It has rarely been reported as a cause of isolated bacteremia. However, the relationship between bacteremia and central venous catheter is unknown.

Novel approach using antimicrobial catheters to improve the management of central line-associated bloodstream infections in cancer patients.

Background: Central venous catheter (CVC) removal has often been recommended for the treatment of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). However, CVC removal is not always practical in patients with cancer, and changing CVCs with noncoated CVCs over guidewire may result in cross-infection of the new CVC. Therefore, the current matched retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of exchanging infected CVCs for minocycline- and rifampin (MR)-coated CVCs in cancer patients with CLABSIs.