Ceftazidime-avibactam use for the treatment of OXA-48- and/or New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase–producing <i>Enterobacterales</i> in cancer patients: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND:

Infection is the second-leading cause of death among cancer patients, but there have been few studies on the effectiveness of novel antimicrobial agents to treat carbapenem-resistant
Enterobacterales
in cancer patients.



OBJECTIVE:

Evaluate the mortality and clinical outcomes of ceftazi-dime-avibactam for OXA-48- and/or New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing
Enterobacterales
infection in cancer patients.



DESIGN:
Retrospective observational cohort study


SETTING:
Tertiary academic medical center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


SUBJECTS AND METHODS:

This study included patients who had cancer and received ceftazidime-avibactam for at least 72 hours for infections caused by OXA-48- and/or NDM-producing
Enterobacterales
. We excluded patients who died within 72 hours of treatment, patients with polymicrobial infections, and patients who did not receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy.



MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:
Primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included clinical cure, relapse, and reinfection.


SAMPLE SIZE:
32 cancer patients


RESULTS:
The 30-day mortality among all patients was 15/32 (47%), clinical cure was achieved in 19/32 (59%) of the patients, and the relapse and reinfection rates were 2/19 (10.5%) and 4/17 (23.5%), respectively.


CONCLUSION:

This is the largest study to evaluate clinical outcomes associated with infections caused by OXA-48- and/or NDM-producing
Enterobacterales
in cancer patients. The mortality rate remains high; however, ceftazidime-avibactam is an encouraging alternative for treating severe infections in cancer patients.



LIMITATIONS:
Small sample size and single center.