Aspergillosis in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: risk factors, prophylaxis, and treatment.

Author(s): Avery RK

Affiliation(s): Transplant Infectious Disease (Adult), Cleveland Clinic; Department of Infectious Disease, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Desk S-32, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. averyr@ccf.org.

Publication date & source: 2009-05, Curr Infect Dis Rep., 11(3):223-8.

Publication type:

This article discusses newer antifungal agents, recent randomized controlled trials, and the 2008 guidelines for treatment of aspergillosis in reference to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Strategies such as reduced-intensity conditioning and agents such as infliximab shed new light on aspergillosis risk. The association between Toll-like receptor polymorphisms and aspergillosis is an exciting development. Posaconazole was evaluated in two randomized prophylaxis trials, and a large, randomized trial established voriconazole's therapeutic superiority to amphotericin. However, many questions remain regarding which patients benefit most from prophylaxis; resistance to newer antifungals; and combination, salvage, and immunomodulatory therapies. Current therapies and strategies have improved the outlook of HSCT recipients with invasive aspergillosis. Future directions include increasingly sophisticated risk stratification, clinical testing of combination therapies, and adjunctive immunomodulatory therapies.