Treatment of infections in non-neutropenic patients with cancer, AIDS, or renal transplant using ciprofloxacin.

Abstract

Infective complications not only remain the major factor in preventing a large proportion of cancer patients from achieving a complete remission, but also greatly influence the outcome of immunosuppressed transplant recipients and are a prominent problem in subjects affected by AIDS. We report the results of 73 patients, 54 males and 19 females with a mean age of 61.4 +/- 15.1 years affected by solid cancer (64 pts), AIDS (6 pts) or with kidney transplant (3 pts), treated with ciprofloxacin 250 mg bid (21 pts) or 500 mg bid (52 pts) for respiratory tract infections (41 cases), urinary tract infections (22), septicemia (5) or other infections (5). The mean course of therapy was 9.6 +/- 5.7 days and led to a complete resolution of symptoms in 66 (90.4%) patients, improvement in 6 (8.2%), while the clinical picture was unaffected in 1 (1.4%). Candida superinfection occurred in one case and only four patients experienced side effects. Ciprofloxacin results to be an effective antibacterial agent in a high risk population.