Background and objective: Bacteremia is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the detection of bacteremia in cancer patients.
Patients and methods: PCT, IL-8, IL-6, and CPR levels were measured in 2 groups of cancer patients who had fever: one group with true bacteremia and another without bacteremia.
Results: Seventy-nine febrile episodes were analyzed in 79 patients, 43 men and 36 women. Forty-four patients were in the true bacteremia group. Significant differences in PCT (P<0.001), IL-8 (P<0.001), and IL-6 (P=0.002) values were found between patients with and without true bacteremia. CPR results were not significantly different between the groups (P=0.23). The cut-off point for PCT was 0.5 ng/mL and this parameter yielded the best specificity at 91.4%, with a sensitivity of 59.1%.
Conclusions: Among the infection markers studied, PCT provided the most information for diagnosing bacteremia in cancer patients.
(c) 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.