Study on disk diffusion method for antimicrobial susceptibility test of Candida isolated from patients with lung cancer

Objective To compare the ROSCO disk diffusion method with broth microdilution method (CLSI, M27-A) for antimicrobial susceptibility test of Candida species isolated from patients with lung cancer. Methods Danish ROSCO company disk diffusion testing method and bio Merieux ATB FUNGUR2 were applied to test 5-flucytosine, fluconazole, itraconazole and amphotericin B antimicrobial susceptibility for 78 Candida species strains isolated from patients with lung cancer. Results Through evaluating the susceptibility to 5-flucytosine, amphotericin B, fluconazole and itraconazole by disk diffusion method, the Kappa value was 0.89. The sensitive strains detected by one method did not show resistance in another method. The sensitive rates of 78 strains of Candida species to 5-flucytosine, amphotericin B, fluconazole and itraconazole were 88.20 %, 89.17 %, 56.34 % and 52.12 %. The susceptibility of C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.glabrata and C. krusei to four kinds of antifungal agents was 90.95 % , 85.71 % , 67.50 % and 41.67 % respectively. Conclusions Results of disk diffusion method coincide well with broth microdilution method. It can be chosen as a clinical routine method for antimicrobial susceptibility test. Key words: Lung neoplasms; Candida; Disk diffusion antimicrobial tests; Broth microdilution method