Diagnostic methods for invasive fungal diseases in patients with hematologic malignancies

Abstract

Invasive fungal disease is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in hematologic malignancy patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Timely recognition and treatment of invasive fungal diseases in these patients are essential and decrease mortality. However, conventional definitive diagnostic methods are difficult and time consuming. While conventional microbiological and histopathological methods are still needed for a definitive diagnosis of invasive fungal disease, new noninvasive diagnostic methods including serologic and molecular biomarkers are now available. These new diagnostic methods facilitate an early diagnosis of invasive fungal disease and allow for utilization of a pre-emptive treatment approach, which may ultimately lead to improved treatment outcomes and reduced toxicity.

Keywords::

• Aspergillus
• Candida
• empiric antifungal therapy
• galactomannan assay
• glucan assay
• hematologic malignancies
• hematopoietic stem cell transplant
• invasive fungal disease
• PCR
• pre-emptive antifungal therapy

Financial & competing interests disclosure

JR Wingard has received consulting fees from Merck, Athersys, Gamida and Astellas and lecture fees from Pfizer. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.