Del Principe MI, Dragonetti G, Conti A, et al. - This multicenter retrospective “SEIFEM 2016 B” study was conducted to determine the current rate and the outcome of proven/probable invasive aspergillosis (IA) and to examine if antifungal prophylaxis (AP) is efficacious in a large “real life” series of patient with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML) submitted to salvage chemotherapy.

• Among a total of 2,250 R/R AML patients, there were 74 cases of IA (5.1%): 10 (0.7%) proven and 64 (4.3%) probable.

• During the salvage chemotherapy, IA occurred at an incidence similar to the past; however, the attributable mortality rate (AMR) seems to be lower to those reported previously in R/R AML.

• There was an occurrence of 58 (79%) breakthrough infections, mainly during AP with posaconazole [25 (43%)].

• Antifungal therapy (AT) appeared beneficial for patients receiving AP during salvage chemotherapy relative to those who didn’t receive AP.

• AP and absence of severe mucositis were noted to have a significant favorable effect on overall response rate.