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Impact of neutrophil function on outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia in patients with cancer

Stefano Aliberti, MD^*,#, Asad Amir, MD^#, Paula Peyrani, MD^#, John A. Myers, PhD^¶, Maria Cirino, MD, Matteo Saporiti, MD^*, Francesco Blasi, MD, PhD^* and Julio A. Ramirez, MD^#

^* Institute of Respiratory Disease, University of Milan, Ospedale Maggiore Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Via F. Sforza 35, Milan 20122, Italy, ^# Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, ^¶ Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

CORRESPONDENCE: Stefano Aliberti, Institute of Respiratory Disease, University of Milan, Ospedale Maggiore Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico, Milan, Italy

Some literature suggests that outcomes of CAP in patients with solid tumor without neutropenia may be better than in cancer patients with neutropenia. In order to investigate the role of neutrophils in this population, we retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients with CAP admitted to 3 tertiary care hospitals from 01/2001 through 12/2005. HIV patients were excluded. A total of 993 patients were classified as follows: Group 1: no active cancer; Group 2: solid cancer without neutropenia; Group 3: solid cancer without neutropenia or hematologic malignancy. Age, Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), overall mortality, time to reach clinical stability (TCS) and length of stay in hospital (LOS) are summarized in the table. No significant differences were found for any of the outcomes between group 2 and 3. Our results suggest that physicians should aggressively manage cancer patients with CAP, regardless of the neutrophil count.