Drug therapy management of the febrile neutropenic cancer patient.

Neutropenia is one of the major dose-limiting toxicities of cancer chemotherapy. Since the 1960s, dramatic changes have occurred in its epidemiology, microbiology, and treatment. This article highlights these important changes; reviews the history and current practice of antibiotic, antifungal, and antiviral therapy; and looks toward future therapy using colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) for the infectious complications in the febrile neutropenic cancer patient.