[Significance of Procalcitonin Measurement in Cases with Febrile Condition during Chemotherapy for Urological Cancer].

We examined the usefulness of measurement of procalcitonin (PCT) for patients, who developed febrile neutropenia during cancer chemotherapy for urological cancer. Of the Patients who underwent cancer chemotherapy for bladder, renal pelvic or ureteral, and testicular cancer in our department from 2010 to 2013, 51 had febrile events. Their clinical courses and PCT values were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. PCT was positive in 12 patients and negative in 39. The duration with febrile status was significantly longer in the PCT-positive group than in the PCT-negative group. There was no significant difference between the blood count values in each group, but C-reactive protein (CRP) was significantly higher in the PCT-positive group than in the PCT-negative group. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in other tests with blood. There were 12 patients with febrile neutropenia (FN) but all were classified into low-risk by the MASCC scoring system. Four of these 12 patients were positive for PCT. Our results suggested that, in patients with a fever of 37.5°C or more during the course of cancer chemotherapy for urologic cancer, bacteremia possibly existed if the patient was positive for PCT. In addition, the duration of fever tended to be longer and the condition was more severe. When the patients with urological cancer undergo cancer chemotherapy manifest high-grade fever, PCT is promising and valuable as an indicator of the severity of infection.