Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia Prophylaxis for Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy

Abstract

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is one type of life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. PJP development should be considered in not only immunocompromised individuals, but also patients undergoing intensive chemotherapies and immunotherapies, organ transplantation, or corticosteroid treatment. Past studies have described the clinical manifestation of PJP in patients during chemotherapy and reported that PJP affects cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, PJP could be a potential problem for the management of cancer patients during chemotherapy, and PJP prophylaxis would be important during cancer treatment. This review discusses PJ colonization in outpatients during cancer chemotherapy, as well as in healthy individuals, and provides an update on PJP prophylaxis for cancer patients during chemotherapy.