Prevention of device-related infections in patients with cancer: Current practice and future horizons

Over the past several years, multifaceted advances in the management of cancer have led to a significant improvement in survival rates. Throughout patients’ oncological journeys, they will likely receive one or more implantable devices for the administration of fluids and medications as well as management of various comorbidities and complications related to cancer therapy. Infections associated with these devices are frequent and complex, often necessitating device removal, increasing health care costs, negatively affecting quality of life, and complicating oncological care, usually leading to delays in further life-saving cancer therapy. Herein, the authors comprehensively review multiple evidence-based recommendations along with best practices, expert opinions, and novel approaches for the prevention of diverse device-related infections. The authors present many general principles for the prevention of these infections followed by specific device-related recommendations in a systematic manner. The continuous involvement and meaningful cooperation between regulatory entities, industry, specialty medical societies, hospitals, and infection control-targeted interventions, along with primary care and consulting health care providers, are all vital for the sustained reduction in the incidence of these preventable infections.