History of antifungal therapy

Significant increases in the incidence of invasive fungal infections have occurred during the past three decades. Thus, there is a critical need for new antifungal agents to treat life-threatening fungal infections, and the field of antifungal therapy is changing rapidly as clinical investigation with current as well as future antifungal agents is completed. Antifungal agents will continue to be developed as we learn new molecular targets in fungi that will render these organisms susceptible to novel antifungal drugs. Also, combination antifungal therapy needs to be properly investigated, including the effects of sequential blockade at two or more sites, as well as the combination of antifungal agents with cytokines to augment the host's inflammatory and immune responses. This review of the development of antifungal therapy indicates the increased interest in this area of infectious diseases. Although some progress has been made, continued efforts are needed to discover more promising agents in an attempt to cure and prevent invasive fungal infections.