Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are commonly observed in patients, who are at high risk of severe infections during the neutropenic phase. The aim of this retrospective single-center study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of voriconazole as a fungal prophylaxis after induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adult patients. Six proven/probable IFIs were diagnosed in 213 patients with AML (median age 61 years, range 18-85), who received a total of 377 induction chemotherapies. This yielded an incidence rate of 1.6% based on all induction cycles administered. Voriconazole prophylaxis was administered as intended in 317 out of 377 (84%) induction cycles until the end of neutropenia with a median duration of 20 days (range: 2-101 days). In conclusion, voriconazole demonstrates efficacy and safety as a first-line IFI prophylaxis comparable to published data on posaconazole, which is the standard fungal prophylaxis recommendation for AML patients in international guidelines today.
Keywords: Myeloid leukemias and dysplasias; drug resistance; infectious complications.