Successful treatment with Protein C of febrile neutropenia in pediatric patients during cancer therapy

Abstract

Febrile Neutropenia (FN) is a complication of chemotherapy in childhood cancer and at the same time secondary deficit of Protein C (PC) is often present during sepsis in children with cancer. In this study we have compared the clinical outcome of two different groups. At the onset of FN during chemotherapy the first group (patients with a secondary deficit of PC) received Protein C Concentrate (PCC) replacement while the other group without PC deficiency received only symptomatic therapies. We report that PC replacement could shorten duration of FN and improve the clinical outcome. The administration of PCC was safe and without any complications.

Keywords::

• Protein C
• febrile neutropenia
• children
• cancer

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mrs Olga Selvaggi for the support in the reference search.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.