Incidence of infections after therapy completion in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia: a systematic review of the literature

AbstractInfections are a common complication of treatment for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Less is known about infections occurring after treatment. We performed a systematic review of the literature to assess the incidence of infections after therapy completion in children and young adults with ALL or AML. Twenty-eight studies, with 4138 patients, were included. Four studies reported infections in patients who did not undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Respiratory tract and urinary tract infections affected 9.9–72.5% and 2.9–19.8% of patients, respectively. Twelve studies reported infections in patients treated with HSCT. Late bacterial, viral and fungal infections affected 3.9–38.5%, 16.1–66.7%, and 0.2–41.7% of patients, respectively. Viral hepatitis affected 0.8–75.4% of patients from 12 studies. Our review suggests that infections are a frequent complication after treatment for leukemia in children, especially after HSCT and identifies ...