Recent updates in treating carbapenem-resistant infections in patients with hematological malignancies

Introduction: Patients with hematological malignancies (PHMs) are at increased risk for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs) due to frequent exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics and prolonged hospital stays. These infections result in high mortality and morbidity rates along with delays in chemotherapy, longer hospitalizations, and increased health care costs. Areas covered: Treatment alternatives for CRO infections in PHMs. Expert opinion: The best available treatment option for KPC and OXA-48 producers is ceftazidime/avibactam. Imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam and meropenem/vaborbactam remain as the alternative options. They can also be used as salvage therapy in KPC-positive Enterobacterales infections resistant to ceftazidime/avibactam, if in vitro susceptibility is shown. Treatment of metallo-β-lactamase producers is an unmet need. Ceftazidime/avibactam plus aztreonam or aztreonam/avibactam seems to be the most reliable option for metallo-β-lactamase producers. As a first-line option for carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, ceftolozane/tazobactam is preferable and ceftazidime/avibactam and imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam constitute alternative regimens. Although sulbactam/durlobactam is the most reliable option against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections, its utility as monotherapy and in PHMs is not yet known. Cefiderocol can be selected as a ‘last-resort’ option for CRO infections. New risk score models supported by artificial intelligence algorithms can be used to predict the exact risk of infections in previously colonized patients.