Listeriosis in pediatric oncology patients

• Published in: Cancer 1998-08, Vol.83 (4), p.817-820
• Main Authors: Mora, Jaume, White, Mary, Dunkel, Ira J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; ampicillin; Ampicillin - therapeutic use; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Neoplasms - microbiology; Child; Drug Therapy, Combination - therapeutic use; Female; gentamicin; Gentamicins - therapeutic use; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; Humans; leukemia; Leukemia - microbiology; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis - drug therapy; Listeriosis - etiology; lymphoma; Lymphoma, T-Cell - microbiology; Male; Medical sciences; Neoplasms - microbiology; oligodendroglioma; pediatric oncology; Penicillins - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19980815)83:4<817::AID-CNCR28>3.0.CO;2-U

BACKGROUND Adult cancer patients are considered to be at an increased risk for Listeria monocytogenes infections, but, to the authors' knowledge, little information regarding this infection in the pediatric oncology population has been published. METHODS The Memorial Sloan‐Kettering Cancer Center microbiology laboratory's database was searched for cases of Listeria monocytogenes infection during the period from January 1981 to December 1996, and thorough chart reviews of the cases identified in patients age < 21 years were performed. RESULTS Listerial infections occurred in 5 children (3 with leukemia, 1 with lymphoma, and 1 with a brain tumor) among 20,612 admissions to the pediatric department during this period. All five children were actively receiving therapy for their malignancy, and two also were receiving other potentially immunosuppressive therapies. None was receiving co‐trimoxazole prophylaxis. All were treated successfully for the Listeria monocytogenes infection with ampicillin and gentamicin (four patients) or ampicillin alone (one patient). At last follow‐up two patients were long term, event‐free survivors, two had died of their underlying malignancy, and one patient had died of cytomegalovirus pneumonitis. CONCLUSIONS Listeria monocytogenes infections in pediatric oncology patients can be treated successfully with ampicillin‐containing antibiotic regimens. Cancer 1998;83:817‐820. © 1998 American Cancer Society. Listeria monocytogenes infections historically have been considered to be associated with a high mortality rate in adult cancer patients. This series, which to the authors' knowledge is the first in a pediatric oncology population, indicates that listeriosis may be treated successfully in children with cancer, confirming the better prognosis recently reported in adult oncology patients.