Risk of bacteremia in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)

Abstract

Patients with CTCL are at increased risk for bacteremia which is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. We assessed risk factors for and the impact of bacteremia on survival in a retrospective cohort of 188 CTCL patients at a single US academic institution treated between 1990 and 2018. With a median follow up of 6.2 years, 20% of patients (n = 36) developed 79 bacteremia events. Risk factors for bacteremia included advanced stage, female gender, African American (AA) race, invasive lines, and chemotherapy. Bacteremia was associated with an increased risk of death on univariate and multivariable models. Bacteremia is associated with an increased risk of death in patients with CTCL. The greatest avoidable risk factors included chemotherapy treatment and presence of an invasive line.

Key points

• 20% of patients developed bacteremia at any point in time in this analysis.

• Bacteremia is associated with an increased risk of death in patients with CTCL

• Risk factors for bacteremia include advanced stage, female gender, AA race, invasive line, and chemotherapy.

Keywords:

• CTCL
• mycosis fungoides
• sepsis
• staphylococcus
• bacteremia

Disclosure statement

MJL reports personal fees from Kyowa Karin, personal fees from Soligenix, outside the submitted work; PA reports Advisory board from Imbrium and Bayer, outside the submitted work.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and NIH/NCI under award number P30CA138292. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.