Sepsis in head and neck cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation: Literature review and consensus

Aurora Mirabile; Gianmauro Numico; Elvio G Russi; Paolo Bossi; Fulvio Crippa; Almalina Bacigalupo; Vitaliana De Sanctis; Stefania Musso; Anna Merlotti; Maria Grazia Ghi; Marco C Merlano; Lisa Licitra; Francesco Moretto; Nerina Denaro; Orietta Caspiani; Michela Buglione; Stefano Pergolizzi; Antonio Cascio; Jacques Bernier; Judith Raber-Durlacher; Jan B Vermorken; Barbara Murphy; Marco V Ranieri; R Phillip Dellinger

doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2015.03.003

Sepsis in head and neck cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation: Literature review and consensus

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2015 Aug;95(2):191-213. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2015.03.003. Epub 2015 Mar 19.

Authors

Aurora Mirabile¹, Gianmauro Numico², Elvio G Russi³, Paolo Bossi⁴, Fulvio Crippa⁵, Almalina Bacigalupo⁶, Vitaliana De Sanctis⁷, Stefania Musso⁸, Anna Merlotti⁹, Maria Grazia Ghi¹⁰, Marco C Merlano¹¹, Lisa Licitra¹², Francesco Moretto¹³, Nerina Denaro¹⁴, Orietta Caspiani¹⁵, Michela Buglione¹⁶, Stefano Pergolizzi¹⁷, Antonio Cascio¹⁸, Jacques Bernier¹⁹, Judith Raber-Durlacher²⁰, Jan B Vermorken²¹, Barbara Murphy²², Marco V Ranieri²³, R Phillip Dellinger²⁴

Affiliations

¹ Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Medical Oncology Unit, Ospedale U. Parini, Viale Ginevra 3, 11100 Aosta, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Radiation Oncology Department, AO. S. Croce e Carle, Cuneo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Infectious Disease Department, AO.S. Paolo, Milano, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Radio-Oncology Department, IRCCS San Martino - IST, Largo R Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Department of Radiotherapy, University "La Sapienza" Rome Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Critical Care Department, AO S. Croce e Carle Cuneo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Radiation Oncology Department, Ospedale di Circolo di Busto Arsizio, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ Department of Oncology, Ospedale dell Angelo, Via Paccagnella 11, 30174 Mestre-Venezia, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Medical Oncology Department, AO. S. Croce e Carle, Cuneo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹² Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹³ Radiotherapy Department, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁴ Medical Oncology Department, AO. S. Croce e Carle, Cuneo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁵ Radiation Oncology Department, Isola Tiberina Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁶ Radiation Oncology Department, University of Brescia and Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁷ Radiation Oncology Department, Unit of University of Messina, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁸ Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria n. 1, 98125 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁹ Department of Radio-Oncology, Genolier Clinic, Genolier and Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: [email protected].
²⁰ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected].
²¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].
²² Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
²³ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Turin, S. Giovanni Battista-Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
²⁴ Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 25818202
DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2015.03.003

Abstract

The reporting of infection/sepsis in chemo/radiation-treated head and neck cancer patients is sparse and the problem is underestimated. A multidisciplinary group of head and neck cancer specialists from Italy met with the aim of reaching a consensus on a clinical definition and management of infections and sepsis. The Delphi appropriateness method was used for this consensus. External expert reviewers then evaluated the conclusions carefully according to their area of expertise. The paper contains seven clusters of statements about the clinical definition and management of infections and sepsis in head and neck cancer patients, which had a consensus. Furthermore, it offers a review of recent literature in these topics.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Head and neck cancer; Radiotherapy; Sepsis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Head and Neck Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Head and Neck Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Humans
Italy / epidemiology
Sepsis* / chemically induced
Sepsis* / epidemiology
Sepsis* / therapy