Abstract
Purpose and Methods: Infection and neoplastic fever is one of the common complication in patients with advanced cancer. To develop a novel method to differentiate neoplastic fever from infection, we performed a retrospective study of hospitalized terminally ill cancer patients at Seirei Hospice from April 2009 to August 2011. Results: We identified a consecutive sample of 12 patients with neoplastic fever and 12 patients with infection as a control. We extracted demographic data, laboratory data, vital signs and symptoms from medical charts. We found significant differences in difference in C-reacive protein value between afebrile and febrile period (p＜0.001), difference of white blood cell count between afebrile and febrile period (p=0.0017), percentages in neutrophil counts (p=0.023), percentages in lymphocyte counts at base line (p=0.011) and the presence of delirium (p=0.012). Conclusion: These findings suggest that we might differentiate neoplastic fever from infection with common laboratory data and their longitudinal change.
