Fluconazole in the treatment of mycotic oropharyngeal stomatitis and esophagitis in neutropenic cancer patients.

The efficacy and safety of fluconazole, a new triazole antifungal agent, was evaluated in 24 patients with neutropenia due to cytotoxic anticancer chemotherapy with polyfactorial immunodepression. Twenty of 23 patients benefited from treatment, and except for 1 patient with mild abdominal discomfort the drug was well tolerated. Mycological eradication appeared in 17 from 23 evaluable patients, superinfection in 1 case and persistence could be evaluated in 5 cases. Candida albicans, C. crusei and C. pseudotropicalis together with Torulopsis sp. were the most frequently isolated organisms from pharyngeal and esophageal mucosa in treated patients with oropharyngeal and esophageal mycosis.