Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Cancer Patients From a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective To investigate the predisposing factors, disease course, potential complications, role of primary prophylaxis, and overall outcomes of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in cancer patients. Methods The study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center, Lahore, Pakistan. We analyzed the medical records of cancer patients diagnosed with PJP from January 2018 to December 2022 and collected data about demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, predisposing factors, treatment, complications, and mortality rates. We used SPSS 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) for data analysis. Results Out of 84 patients, 59.5% (n=50) were males and most of the patients belonged to the age group 41 to 65 years. Sixty-seven point nine percent (67.9%; n=57) of patients had underlying hematological malignancy, including three bone marrow transplant recipients while 32.2% (n=27) of patients had underlying solid organ malignancy. We also observed the use of corticosteroids, rituximab, and fludarabine as predisposing factors in 15% (n=13), 27% (n=23), and 3.7%(n=03) of patients, respectively. The most common symptoms were dyspnea (88%; n=74), followed by fever (69%; n=58) and cough (69%; n=58). The former one was more prevalent in hematological malignancy patients as compared to the solid organ tumor group (p-value 0.001). We noted respiratory failure (45.2%; n=38), ICU stay (52.38%; n=44), death (32%; n=27), and shock (10.7% n=9) as the most common PJP-related complications. Moreover, all these complications were more frequent in hematological malignancy patients. We also observed that only three patients developed PJP while on adequate primary prophylaxis for this condition. The overall all-cause one-month mortality was 32% (n=27). Conclusion Cancer patients, especially those with hematological malignancies presenting with symptoms suggestive of PJP, need careful evaluation and preemptive treatment as PJP-related mortality is higher in cancer patients. Early diagnosis and treatment in this population can be lifesaving. Moreover, all cancer patients should receive PJP prophylaxis when indicated.