Prospective Evaluation of the Fungitell® (1→3) Beta‐D‐Glucan Assay as a Diagnostic Tool for Invasive Fungal Disease in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group

Abstract

Background

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is a major source of morbidity and mortality for hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Non‐invasive biomarkers, such as the beta‐D‐glucan assay, may improve the diagnosis of IFD. The objective was to define the utility of surveillance testing using Fungitell® beta‐D‐glucan (BDG) assay in children receiving antifungal prophylaxis in the immediate post‐HCT period.

Methods

Weekly surveillance blood testing with the Fungitell® BDG assay was performed during the early post‐HCT period in the context of a randomized trial of children, adolescents, and young adults undergoing allogeneic HCT allocated to triazole or caspofungin prophylaxis. Positivity was defined at the manufacturer cutoff of 80 pg/ml. IFD was adjudicated using blinded central reviewers. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for the Fungitell® BDG assay for the outcome of proven or probable IFD.

Results

A total of 51 patients (out of 290 patients in the parent trial) contributed blood specimens. In total, 278 specimens were evaluated. Specificity was 80.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 75.6%–85.3%), and NPV was over 99% (95% CI: 86.8%–99.9%). However, there were no true positive results, resulting in sensitivity of 0% (95% CI: 0.0%–84.2%) and PPV of 0% (95% CI: 0.0%–6.7%).

Conclusions

Fungitell® BDG screening is of limited utility in diagnosing IFD in the post‐HCT period, mainly due to high false‐positive rates. Fungitell® BDG surveillance testing should not be performed in children during the early post‐HCT period while receiving antifungal prophylaxis as the pretest probability for IFD is low.