People have the right to be involved in discussions and make informed decisions about their care, as described in NICE's information on making decisions about your care.
Making decisions using NICE guidelines explains how we use words to show the strength (or certainty) of our recommendations, and has information about prescribing medicines (including off-label use), professional guidelines, standards and laws (including on consent and mental capacity), and safeguarding.
The following guidance is based on the best available evidence. The full guideline gives details of the methods and the evidence used to develop the guidance.
The recommendations in this guideline were developed after discussion of the relevance of the evidence to children, young people and adults with cancer. The recommendations are intended for use in patients of any age. Where age-limited or disease-specific recommendations are made they are clearly indicated as such.
Provide patients having anticancer treatment and their carers with written and oral information, both before starting and throughout their anticancer treatment, on:
neutropenic sepsis
how and when to contact 24-hour specialist oncology advice
how and when to seek emergency care.
Healthcare professionals and staff who come into contact with patients having anticancer treatment should be provided with training on neutropenic sepsis. The training should be tailored according to the type of contact.
For adult patients (aged 18 years and older) with acute leukaemias, stem cell transplants or solid tumours in whom significant neutropenia (neutrophil count 0.5×109 per litre or lower) is an anticipated consequence of chemotherapy, offer prophylaxis with a fluoroquinolone during the expected period of neutropenia only.
In September 2024, only ciprofloxacin was licensed for prophylaxis of infections in neutropenic patients. Use of another fluoroquinolone would be off-label. See NICE's information on prescribing medicines.
See the MHRA January 2024 advice on restrictions and precautions for using fluoroquinolone antibiotics because of the risk of disabling and potentially long-lasting or irreversible side effects.
Rates of antibiotic resistance and infection patterns should be monitored in treatment facilities where patients are having fluoroquinolones for the prophylaxis of neutropenic sepsis.
See the Department of Health's updated guidance on the diagnosis and reporting of Clostridium difficile.
Do not routinely offer G-CSF for the prevention of neutropenic sepsis in adults receiving chemotherapy unless they are receiving G-CSF as an integral part of the chemotherapy regimen or in order to maintain dose intensity.
Suspect neutropenic sepsis in patients having anticancer treatment who become unwell.
Refer patients with suspected neutropenic sepsis immediately for assessment in secondary or tertiary care.
Treat suspected neutropenic sepsis as an acute medical emergency and offer empiric antibiotic therapy immediately.
Include in the initial clinical assessment of patients with suspected neutropenic sepsis:
history and examination
full blood count, kidney and liver function tests (including albumin), C-reactive protein, lactate and blood culture.
After completing the initial clinical assessment (see recommendation 1.4.1.2) try to identify the underlying cause of the sepsis by carrying out:
additional peripheral blood culture in patients with a central venous access device if clinically feasible
urinalysis in all children aged under 5 years.
Do not perform a chest X-ray unless clinically indicated.
Offer beta lactam monotherapy with piperacillin with tazobactam as initial empiric antibiotic therapy to patients with suspected neutropenic sepsis who need intravenous treatment unless there are patient-specific or local microbiological contraindications. At the time of publication (September 2012) piperacillin with tazobactam did not have a UK marketing authorisation for use in children aged under 2 years. The prescriber should follow relevant professional guidance, taking full responsibility for the decision. The child's parent or carer should provide informed consent, which should be documented. See the General Medical Council's Good practice in prescribing medicines – guidance for doctors and the prescribing advice provided by the Joint Standing Committee on Medicines (a joint committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group) for further information.
Do not offer an aminoglycoside, either as monotherapy or in dual therapy, for the initial empiric treatment of suspected neutropenic sepsis unless there are patient-specific or local microbiological indications.
Do not offer empiric glycopeptide antibiotics to patients with suspected neutropenic sepsis who have central venous access devices unless there are patient-specific or local microbiological indications.
Do not remove central venous access devices as part of the initial empiric management of suspected neutropenic sepsis.
Diagnose neutropenic sepsis in patients having anticancer treatment whose neutrophil count is 0.5×109 per litre or lower and who have either:
a temperature higher than 38oC or
other signs or symptoms consistent with clinically significant sepsis.
A healthcare professional with competence in managing complications of anticancer treatment should assess the patient's risk of septic complications within 24 hours of presentation to secondary or tertiary care, basing the risk assessment on presentation features and using a validated risk scoring system.
Consider outpatient antibiotic therapy for patients with confirmed neutropenic sepsis and a low risk of developing septic complications, taking into account the patient's social and clinical circumstances and discussing with them the need to return to hospital promptly if a problem develops.
For patients with confirmed neutropenic sepsis and a high risk of developing septic complications, a healthcare professional with competence in managing complications of anticancer treatment should daily:
review the patient's clinical status
reassess the patient's risk of septic complications, using a validated risk scoring system.
Do not switch initial empiric antibiotics in patients with unresponsive fever unless there is clinical deterioration or a microbiological indication.
Switch from intravenous to oral antibiotic therapy after 48 hours of treatment in patients whose risk of developing septic complications has been reassessed as low by a healthcare professional with competence in managing complications of anticancer treatment using a validated risk scoring system.
Offer discharge to patients having empiric antibiotic therapy for neutropenic sepsis only after:
the patient's risk of developing septic complications has been reassessed as low by a healthcare professional with competence in managing complications of anticancer treatment using a validated risk scoring system and
taking into account the patient's social and clinical circumstances and discussing with them the need to return to hospital promptly if a problem develops.
Continue inpatient empiric antibiotic therapy in all patients who have unresponsive fever unless an alternative cause of fever is likely.
Discontinue empiric antibiotic therapy in patients whose neutropenic sepsis has responded to treatment, irrespective of neutrophil count.
Treatment that is given with the intent to reduce the level of cancer cells in a patient. It includes, but is not limited to, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
An action undertaken prior to determination of the underlying cause of a problem.
An antibiotic given to a person before a specific microorganism or source of the potential infection is known. It is usually a broad-spectrum antibiotic and the treatment may change if the microorganism or source is confirmed.
A type of protein that stimulates the bone marrow to make white blood cells (granulocytes).
Examples of risk scoring systems include The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer risk index: a multinational scoring system for identifying low-risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients (Journal of Clinical Oncology 2000; 18: 3038 to 51) and the modified Alexander rule for children aged under 18 (European Journal of Cancer 2009; 45: 2843 to 9).