[Clinical effects of biapenem on febrile neutropenia in patients with hematological malignancy]

Background: Recent advances in the treatment of hematological malignancies often induce febrile neutropenia (FN) due to severe myelosuppression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of biapenem in such FN.

Methods: Candidate patients were admitted to our hospital and were treat of their hematological malignancy from February 2005 to March 2006. They gave written informed consent to enter this study in advance. When the diagnosis of FN was established among them, those patients received intravenous biapenem 0.6 g every 12 hours. This trail was approved by our institutional review board.

Results: A total of 54 consecutive patients were registered and 49 patients were evaluable for response. The median age was 61. The underlying diseases were acute lymphocytic leukemia in 6 cases, acute myelocytic leukemia in 21, multiple myeloma in 3, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 19. The response rate was 78% (excellent response: 51%, good response: 27%, minor response: 6%, no response: 16%). In patients with neutrophil counts under 500/microl, the response rate was 73%. Infectious death or other serious adverse events were not observed.

Conclusion: Biapenem is effective and safe for treating FN.