Salvage therapy with caspofungin for invasive aspergillosis: results from the caspofungin compassionate use study

Objectives. The objective was to prospectively assess the efficacy and safety of caspofungin as salvage therapy for invasive aspergittosis in patients enrolled in the caspofungin compassionate- use study. Methods. Forty-eight patients with invasive Aspergillus infections (36 with pulmonary infection, 12 with extrapulmonary or disseminated infection) were enrolled in this study. All patients were refractory to or intolerant of intravenous amphotericin B or a lipid amphotericin formutation(s). Efficacy was assessed at end of intravenous caspofungin therapy based on the clinical (symptom/sign and radiographic) response. Results. Underlying diseases included hematotogical malignancy (69%), organ transplant (8%), and AIDS (6%). Forty-three (90%) patients were refractory to prior antifungal treatment, including 25 patients refractory to multiple agents. Sixteen (33%) were neutropenic at study entry. Following caspofungin therapy, a favorable response was noted in 44% (20/45) of the patients, including nine (20%) and 11 (24%) patients with complete and partial responses, respectively. Caspofungin was generally well tolerated one serious drug-related adverse event was reported. Conclusions. In this study, caspofungin was an effective alternative for patients with refractory Aspergillus infections. (c) 2004 The British Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.