Coccidioidomycosis in Patients with Selected Solid Organ Cancers: A Case Series and Review of Medical Literature

Abstract

Coccidioidomycosis is a common infection in the desert southwestern USA; approximately 3 % of healthy persons in Arizona alone become infected annually. Coccidioidomycosis may be severe in immunocompromised persons, but experience among patients with solid organ cancer has not been fully described. Therefore, we aimed to describe the clinical courses of patients whose cancers were complicated by coccidioidomycosis at our institution, which is located in an area with endemic Coccidioides. To do so, we conducted a retrospective review from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2014, of all patients with breast, colorectal, or ovarian cancer whose cancer courses were complicated by coccidioidomycosis. We identified 17,576 cancer patients; 14 (0.08 %) of these patients met criteria for proven or probable coccidioidomycosis diagnosed within the first 2 years after the cancer diagnosis. All of these patients had primary pulmonary coccidioidomycosis, none had relapsed prior infection, and 1 had possible extrapulmonary dissemination. Five had active coccidioidal infection during chemotherapy, 1 of whom was hospitalized for coccidioidal pneumonia. All were treated with fluconazole, and all improved clinically. Eleven did not require prolonged courses of fluconazole. There were no clearly demonstrated episodes of relapsed infection. In conclusion, coccidioidomycosis was not a common complication of breast, colorectal, or ovarian cancers in patients treated at our institution, and it was not commonly complicated by severe or disseminated infection.

Disseminated Coccidioidomycosis Following COVID-19 Mimicking Metastatic Thoracic Relapse of Well-Differentiated Liposarcoma: A Case Report

“…In endemic regions, the rate of disseminated coccidioidal infection remains extremely rare, even among cancer patients ( 5 ). Moreover, in the present report, the patient did not receive systemic chemotherapy and the well-differentiated liposarcoma burden of disease was low volume and stable, making it unlikely that the disseminated coccidioidal infection would be triggered solely by the oncologic history.…”

The Curious Case of “Case Report” of Infections Caused by Human and Animal Fungal Pathogens: An Educational Tool, an Online Archive, or a Format in Need of Retooling

“…Next, we examined whether there was any discernible pattern for the case reports that had low downloads and low or no citations (Tables 4, 5). These case reports were reported from Belgium [75], Brazil [76], China [77], India [78], Iran [79], Italy [80], Pakistan [81], Spain [76], Switzerland [82], UK [83], and USA [84][85][86][87]. The cases included four Aspergillus infections, three pathogens belonging to Mucorales order, two basidiomycetes, one each Alternaria species, Paracoccidioides species, a rare dematiaceous pathogen, and a case series on Coccidioides species.…”