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The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk index score: 10 years of use for identifying low-risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients

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Abstract

The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer risk index score developed, through a multinational collaboration, was published in 2000 with the aim to identify patients with chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia at low risk of serious medical complication development. It has been endorsed as a reliable tool since 2002 by Infectious Diseases Society of America. Ten years after, we thought worth to review its use, its characteristics in the external validations that occurred after the initial publication and also to review how the recognition of a group of patients at low risk has changed the management of febrile neutropenia. We also raise the issue of identification of high-risk patients that remains a challenge today.

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Both authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest in relation with the manuscript; no funding has been received for this work.

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  1. Institut Jules Bordet, Centre des Tumeurs de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles, Rue Héger Bordet 1, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean Klastersky & Marianne Paesmans

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  1. Jean Klastersky
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  2. Marianne Paesmans
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Correspondence to Marianne Paesmans.

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Klastersky, J., Paesmans, M. The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk index score: 10 years of use for identifying low-risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 21, 1487–1495 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1758-y

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