The predictive value of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in hospitalised patients with fever and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

Aim: To demonstrate whether serum Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a relevant parameter to select hospitalised patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenic fever with low or high probability of infection.

Results: 90 assessable febrile episodes in 73 patients were evaluated; 46% of the febrile episodes were microbiologically documented infection (MDI), 8% clinical documented infection (CDI), and 47% fever of unknown origin (FUO). Median IL-8 level was lower in the FUO group compared to CDI and MDI (p<0.