FREQUENCY OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA) BACTEREMIA AMONG CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To examine the incidence of MRSA bacteremia in persons with cancer and characterize the demographic and clinical factors related to it.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Study Setting and Duration: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, from May 2025 to July 2025

Methodology: This study recruited a sample of 179 adult patients by non-probability consecutive sampling. Data included demographic and clinical characteristics. Continuous variables were expressed as medians (IQR), and categorical variables as n(%). The associations associated with MRSA bacteremia were examined using chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests and determined to be statistically significant if p≤0.05.

Results: Median participant age was 48 years (IQR 25), body mass index (BMI) was 23.9 kg/m² (IQR 7.3), and median duration of cancer was 57 months (IQR 58). 92 (51.4%) were females; 101 (56.4%) were receiving active treatment for cancer. (MRSA) Bacteremia was documented in 45 (25.1%) individuals. MRSA-positive patients were significantly more likely than MRSA-negative to be male (75.6% vs 39.6%, p<0.001), be receiving active treatment for cancer (95.6% vs 43.3%, p<0.001), and have a diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma (p=0.011). People diagnosed with MRSA bacteremia were significantly older than those diagnosed without MRSA bacteremia (p-value<0.001) and had significantly lower BMI (p-value=0.043).

Conclusion: MRSA bacteremia in cancer patients occurred at a rate of approximately 25% in this population. In addition, patients who were male, received active treatment, had disease classified as hematologic malignancy, were older than 40 years, and/or had low BMI had increased odds of developing MRSA bacteremia.