Clostridium difficile infection in cancer patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients

Clostridium difficile has become the most common bacterial cause of nosocomial diarrhea. High rates of C difficile infection (CDI) coupled with increasing morbidity and mortality attributed to CDI have sparked a renewed interest in this disease. Emergence of hypervirulent strains, rising rates of severe and recurrent infection and associated infection control challenges, and diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas are major issues in the non-oncology population. Scant data on CDI exist in the cancer/transplant population. The purpose of this article is to describe the epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of CDI in patients receiving cancer chemotherapeutic agents, and in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.