Validity of earlier positivity of central venous blood cultures in comparison with peripheral blood cultures for diagnosing catheter-related bacteremia in cancer patients.

We carried out a prospective study in two French Comprehensive Cancer Centers (95 and 184 beds, respectively) to assess the validity of a test based on the earlier positivity of central venous blood cultures in comparison with peripheral blood cultures for predicting catheter-related bacteremia. The differences between the times to positivity for the 21 patients with clinical catheter-related bacteremia and the differences between the times to positivity for the nine patients with bacteremia due to another source were compared by the median test. The difference between the median values was significant (P = 0.

[Infection and cancer: general information and specific questions].

The main risk factors of infectious complications in cancer patients result from immune deficiency more or less related to cancer. Prognosis is related to the type and grade of the underlying disease. Prospective studies should be conducted to update data on the frequency of infections, morbidity and mortality (expert agreement).