Effect of prophylactic beta-glucan use on the incidence of neutropenic fever and survival rates in pediatric patients with sarcoma

Purpose: Some patients with cancer use herbal therapy as an adjunct while receiving conventional cancer treatments. Beta-glucans have direct cytotoxic effects on cancer cells as well as stimulatory effects on the immune system. In this study, a nutritional supplement containing 1,3-1,6 beta-glucan obtained from baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was used by patients diagnosed with sarcoma, and this study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the effect of beta-glucan use on the incidence of neutropenic fever (NF) and survival rates. Materials and Methods: Among the patients diagnosed with sarcoma between 2014 and 2017, 27 patients who used beta-glucan were included in the beta-glucan group, and 31 patients who did not use beta-glucan were included in the control group. The clinical records of patients were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The number of patients who had NF and the mean length of hospital stay due to NF were higher in the beta-glucan group than those in the control group, but the results were not statistically significant. The overall survival rates at 5 years were 83.3% and 52.9% and event-free survival rates at 5 years were 48.1% and 71% in the beta-glucan and control groups, respectively. Conclusion: The effect of prophylactic beta-glucan use on the incidence of NF and survival rates in pediatric patients with sarcoma should be evaluated more reliably in further prospective studies on a large patient group.