［Purpose］Oral candidiasis is considered to have a high risk of developing in the perioperative period for cancer. However, the emergence of drug-resistant antifungal Candida strains is a problem because of the small number of antifungal drugs for treatment of oral candidiasis. This study investigates the detection status of Candida antifungal susceptibility in perioperative patients with head and neck cancers or esophageal cancer.

［Subjects and Methods］The subjects in this study were 86 patients in the dental department of Hiroshima University Hospital. Specimens were collected from the tongue, and then smeared directly onto a CHROMagar medium. After culturing for 48 hours, the strain was identified from the color and morphology of the colonies. Antifungal susceptibility was measured using a fungal susceptibility kit, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the MCFG, CPFG, FLCZ, MCZ, ITCZ, VRCZ, 5-FC, and AMPH-B antifungal drugs was measured.

［Results］42 strains of Candida (32 strains of C. albicans, 10 strains of C. glabrata) were isolated from 38 patients. Both C. albicans and C. glabrata were detected from 4 patients. The MIC of MCFG, FLCZ, MCZ, ITCZ, and VRCZ for C. glabrata were significantly higher than those of C. albicans, and three resistant strains each were detected from C. glabrata for both MCZ and ITCZ.

［Conclusions］Some C. glabrata were found to be resistant to azole antifungal drugs. These results suggested the importance of oral hygiene management to prevent oral candidiasis, as well as the importance of early identification of candida species and antifungal susceptibility when oral candidiasis occurs.