Objective: Neutropenic septic shock, which is associated with a mortality rate of 40%, is the most lethal complication for patients who receiving chemotherapy. This study is to assess the incidence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenic septic shock, according to cancer types and chemotherapeutic agents.
Methods: We reviewed medical records of patients who had diagnosed with gynecologic cancer and treated with chemotherapeutic agents between Mar. 2009 and Mar. 2018. Neutropenic septic shock is defined as neutropenia <1g/L with septic shock that requires inotropics to maintain a mean arterial pressure of 65 mmHg. Statistical analysis was performed by Pearson’s chi-squared test and Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: Total 1,010 patients were included in this study. Among them, 29 (2.87%) patients experienced 33 events of chemotherapy-induced neutropenic septic shock. Eleven events of deaths were occurred, and the mortality rate was 33.3%. Patients with septic shock were significantly older than those who did not (58.2 vs. 53.5, p=0.027). According to the cancer types, 2.65% of ovarian, 2.01% of cervical, 5.65% of endometrial, and 4.62% of peritoneal cancer patients experienced chemotherapy-induced neutropenic septic shock. There was no statistical significance between the types of cancer. According to the chemotherapeutic regimens, 1.28% of patients who treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel chemotherapy, 2.91% of carboplatin-docetaxel, and 4.55% of cisplatin-adriamycin experienced neutropenic septic shock induced by chemotherapy. Cisplatin-adriamycin chemotherapy was associated with significantly higher incidence of neutropenic septic shock compared to carboplatin-paclitaxel chemotherapy (p=0.049, OR 3.685, 95% CI 1.09-12.50).
Conclusion: Through this study, we could identify the incidence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenic septic shock in gynecologic malignancy. The findings of this study will aid clinicians to select the most appropriate treatment modality.