Current and future therapy of invasive fungal infections.

Major increases in the incidence of systemic fungal infections have been observed during the past three decades, particularly in immunocompromised patients. A critical need exists for new antifungal agents to treat these life-threatening invasive fungal infections. The review of the development of antifungal therapy provided in this chapter indicates the increased interest in this very special area of infectious diseases. Even though newer and less toxic antifungal agents are currently available for clinical use, innovative research in antifungal drug discovery may eventually produce more promising antifungal agents.