29th December 2024

Overview of neutropenic sepsis

Chemotherapeutic drugs generally work by interrupting cell replication pathways. This can be highly effective as an anti-cancer therapy, however can lead to side effects in normal tissues with high replication rates. Bone marrow suppression is one such side effect.

Any cell line within the marrow may be suppressed; typically bone marrow failure secondary to cytotoxic drugs results in pancytopenia. Typically, neutropenic nadir occurs first, 7 to 14 days post chemotherapy (Table 6).

Neutropenia leads to significant risk of infection and sepsis and can be life threatening. It is essential to consider febrile neutropenia and initiate antibiotic therapy readily in patients receiving chemotherapy who present with fever.