Epidemiology

Febrile neutropenia is the most common life-threatening complication of cancer therapy.

In the US, the incidence of febrile neutropenia is estimated at >100,000 events a year, accounting for 5.2% of all cancer-related hospitalizations.[5] Incidence appears to be highest during the first cycle of chemotherapy, in the elderly (age >65 years), and in those with comorbidities.[6][7][8][9] [10]

Febrile neutropenia frequency and mortality are higher in patients with hematologic malignancy than those with solid tumors.[11][12] In one retrospective study of adult cancer patients hospitalized with febrile neutropenia between 1995 and 2000, the average inpatient mortality rate associated with febrile neutropenia was 14.3% for those with leukemia compared with 8.0% for those with solid tumors and 8.9% for those with lymphoma.[12] Robust contemporary data on overall mortality in cancer patients hospitalized with neutropenic fever is lacking, but more recent data from a study of hematologic malignancy patients hospitalized with febrile neutropenia and bloodstream infection between 2016 and 2019 suggests mortality may be lower.[13]

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