Epidemiology, antibiotic therapy and outcomes of bacteremia caused by drug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens in cancer patients

Infection due to the six ESKAPE pathogens has recently been identified as a serious emerging problem. However, there is still a lack of information on bacteremia caused by these organisms in cancer patients. We aimed to assess the epidemiology, antibiotic therapy and outcomes of bacteremia due to drug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens (rESKAPE) in patients with cancer. All episodes of bacteremia prospectively documented in hospitalized adults with cancer from 2006 to 2011 were analyzed. Of 1,148 episodes of bacteremia, 392 (34 %) were caused by ESKAPE pathogens. Fifty-four episodes (4.7 %) were due to rESKAPE strains (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium 0, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 13, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESLB)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae 7, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii 4, carbapenem- and quinolone-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa 18 and derepression chromosomic -lactam and ESBL-producing Enterobacter species 12. Risk factors independently associated with rESKAPE bacteremia were comorbidities, prior antibiotic therapy, urinary catheter and urinary tract source. Inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy was more frequent in patients with rESKAPE bacteremia than in the other cases (55.6 % vs. 21.5 %, p < 0.001). Persistence of bacteremia (25 % vs. 9.7 %), septic metastasis (8 % vs. 4 %) and early case-fatality rate (23 % vs. 11 %) were more frequent in patients with rESKAPE bacteremia than in patients with other etiologies (p < 0.05). Bacteremia due to rESKAPE pathogens in cancer patients occurs mainly among those with comorbidities who have received prior antibiotic therapy and have a urinary tract source. These patients often receive inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy and have a poor outcome.