[Fungal infections in children with malignant disease].

Intensified chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation result in severe and prolonged granulocytopenia with an increased risk of invasive fungal infections. The major fungal species that cause serious infections in cancer patients are Candida species and Aspergillus species. The main features of Candida infection in this context are oropharyngeal candidiasis and Candida esophagitis, chronic disseminated candidiasis, also known as hepatosplenic candidiasis, and candidemia. Aspergillus can cause severe lung infection but also sinusal or CNS infection. Because invasive fungal infections are severe and often life-threatening, preventive and empirical managements have become standard practice. An increasing number of antifungal drugs is now available, notably lipid formulations of amphotericin B (liposomal amphotericin B), new azoles with broad spectrum of activity and echinocandin.