Journal
TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
Volume 106, Issue 4, Pages 267-269Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2011.12.008
Keywords
Blastocystis hominis; Microsporidia; Opportunistic infection; Cancer; Chemotherapy
Funding
- University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) [UMRG 086-09HTM]
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Chemotherapy can cause immunosuppression, which may trigger latent intestinal parasitic infections in stools to emerge. This study investigated whether intestinal parasites can emerge as opportunistic infections in breast and colorectal cancer patients (n = 46 and n = 15, respectively) undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Breast cancer patients were receiving a 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) regimen (6 chemotherapy cycles), and colorectal cancer patients were receiving either an oxaliplatin/5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (FOLFOX) regimen (12 cycles) or a 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (Mayo) regimen (6 cycles). Patients had Blastocystis hominis and microsporidia infections that were only present during the intermediate chemotherapy cycles. Thus, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy should be screened repeatedly for intestinal parasites, namely B. hominis and microsporidia, as they may reduce the efficacy of chemotherapy treatments. (C) 2012 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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