Efficacy of caspofungin in empirical treatment of fungal infections patients with leukemia

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and efficacy of caspofungin in treatment of fungal infections patients with leukemia and the adverse reactions.METHODS A total of 50 leukemia patients with fungal infections who received caspofungin or itraconazole for treatment were divided into the caspofungin group and the itraconazole group with 25 patients in each,the treatment continued until 5 days after the body temperature returned back to normal,or the course reached to 14 days or the sputum smear were negative for 3 consecutive days;the efficacy of the two drugs and the adverse reactions were observed and the evaluated.RRESULTS In the treatment of leukemia with fungal infections by using caspofungin and itraconazole,the total effective rates were 88.0% and 64.0%,respectively,the differences were statistically significant(P0.05),this study found that caspofungin had less adverse reactions than did the itraconazole with good tolerance.CONCLUSION Caspofungin,with less adverse reaction and better tolerance to the patients,is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of leukemia patients with fungal infections.