LOWELL S. YOUNG, M.D.; RICHARD D. MEYER, M.D.; DONALD ARMSTRONG, M.D., F.A.C.P.
During 1969 to 1972, 361 adult patients (176 vaccinees, 185 control patients) at a cancer center were randomized into a prospective study of the lipopolysaccharide vaccine derived from 7 serotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. There were no significant differences in underlying disease, antibiotic therapy, or antineoplastic treatment between the vaccine and control groups. Fatal bacteremic pseudomonas infection occurred in 19 control subjects as opposed to in 10 vaccinees, and nonbacteremic pseudomonas infections associated with death occurred in 12 control patients and in 3 vaccinees. Protection against bacteremic death was not significant, but the mortality rate associated with pseudomonas infection was 13 out of 176 for the vaccinated group versus 31 out of 185 in the control group (P < 0.01). Fatal pseudomonas infections in both vaccine and control groups were associated with marked leukopenia, low titers of opsonizing pseudomonas antibodies, or both. As an adjunct to therapy of neoplasms, immunoprophylaxis with pseudomonas vaccine was associated with a significant but limited reduction in fatal pseudomonas infection. Vaccine administration was also accompanied by a high incidence of untoward reactions.
YOUNG LS, MEYER RD, ARMSTRONG D. Pseudomonas aeruginosa Vaccine in Cancer Patients. Ann Intern Med. 1973;79:518–527. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-79-4-518
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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1973;79(4):518-527.
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-79-4-518
Hematology/Oncology, Infectious Disease, Prevention/Screening, Vaccines/Immunization.