Cancer patients in both hospital and outpatient settings are at a substantially higher risk of developing antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections compared to all other non-cancer patients.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Cancer Patients Face Significantly Higher AMR Risk: These landmark studies—the first of their kind in the US—confirm that cancer patients in both hospital and outpatient settings are substantially more likely to develop infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens compared to non-cancer patients.
- AMR Threatens the Future of Cancer Treatment: AMR not only complicates standard cancer care like chemotherapy and surgery, but also jeopardizes the effectiveness of cutting-edge therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy and other immunotherapies, which increase infection risk due to immunosuppression.
- Urgent Call for Enhanced Prevention and Stewardship: The findings underscore the urgent need for better infection prevention, targeted antibiotic stewardship, and faster diagnostic tools to protect cancer patients—especially in outpatient settings, where vulnerability to AMR is unexpectedly high.
First-of-their-kind studies published in The Lancet Oncology and Cancer Medicine provide new data showing that cancer patients in both hospital and outpatient settings are at a substantially higher risk of developing antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections compared to all other non-cancer patients.
Together, the two studies, which are understood to be the first large, multi-center studies to quantify AMR among cancer patients in the US, offer some of the strongest evidence to date that superbugs pose a substantial risk to cancer patients across a variety of settings.
“As an oncologist, my ability to effectively treat a patient’s cancer is predicated on the idea that antibiotics will both cure and prevent potentially fatal infections throughout their course of care,” said study co-author Yehoda Martei, MD, University of Pennsylvania. “The rapid emergence of AMR among oncology patients will affect cancer care, including the possibility of undermining new innovations such as CAR T-cell therapy and other immunotherapies, given the risk of immunosuppression and opportunistic infections associated with these therapies.”
The rise of AMR is rapidly diminishing the effectiveness of available antimicrobial medicines, contributing to approximately 4.7 million deaths per year. Antibiotics and other antimicrobials like antifungals play a critical role in cancer care, both as a treatment for infections and as a preventative treatment to reduce the risk of infections associated with certain medical procedures, such as surgery or chemotherapy.
“These studies highlight a critical need for enhanced infection prevention programs, focused antibiotic and diagnostic stewardship, and an increased use of rapid diagnostic tools,” said corresponding author Diane Flayhart, director Global Public Health at BD. “While we expected cancer patients to be at an increased risk of superbugs, we were surprised at the high proportion of AMR pathogens compared to non-cancer patients, especially in outpatient settings. It shows just how vulnerable cancer patients are to these dangerous pathogens.”
Source: BD
