Bloodstream InfectionPERaSTrANCT07372131
Antibiotic Duration and Outcomes in High-Risk Febrile Neutropenia Patients
A study testing Clinical Stability-Driven Antibiotic Discontinuation Strategy in people with Bloodstream Infection and Gram Negative Infections, run by Valeria Cento at 1 site in Italy.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a personalized duration of antibiotic therapy, based on clinical stability, is as effective as a standard duration of at least 10 days in hospitalized patients with hematologic malignancies (such as leukemia or lymphoma) who develop febrile neutropenia and Gram-negative… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Bloodstream Infection, Gram Negative Infections, Bacteraemia Caused by Gram-Negative Bacteria
- What is being tested?
- Clinical Stability-Driven Antibiotic Discontinuation Strategy
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 172 participants
- Where
- 1 siteItaly
- Study dates
- 2 Feb 2026to 30 Nov 2028
- Phase
- Interventional
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Diagnosed with a hematologic malignancy that is candidate for treatment with chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation or chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T)
- Diagnosis of febrile neutropenia defined according to the guidelines of the Infectious Disease Society of America, IDSA; ref: Freifeld, A.G., et al., Clinical practice guideline for the use of antimicrobial agents in neutropenic patients with cancer: 2010 update by the infectious diseases society of america. Clin Infect Dis, 2011. 52(4): p. e56-93.) as: Fever: single record of oral temperature >=38.3°C or a temperature >=38.0°C sustained over a period of one hour; Neutropenia: absolute neutrophil count < 1000 cells/microL; Expected duration of neutropenia >= 7 days
- Diagnosis of bacteraemia defined by positive blood cultures (at least 1 vial positive for a non-contaminating microorganism)
- Isolation of Gram-Negative species
Who cannot join
- Contextual diagnosis of pneumonia
- Contextual diagnosis of intra-abdominal infection, in particular: neutropenic enterocolitis/typhlitis or biliary tract infection
- Persistently positive blood cultures at randomization
- Any condition that endangers the safety of the patient based on the judgment of the treating physician
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Italy1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Microbiology and Virology - IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital
Rozzano, Milan, 20089
Valeria Cento, MD, PhD, 0282243166, valeria.cento@hunimed.eu
About this study
Official title: Appropriate Management of Bacteriemic Febrile Neutropenia in High-Risk Hematological Patients. Relationship Between Duration of Antibiotic Administration, Outcome and Resistance Profile
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a personalized duration of antibiotic therapy, based on clinical stability, is as effective as a standard duration of at least 10 days in hospitalized patients with hematologic malignancies (such as leukemia or lymphoma) who develop febrile neutropenia and Gram-negative bacteraemia.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Read more
- Can a personalized antibiotic duration increase the number of days free from anti-Gram-negative therapy within 28 days without compromising patient safety?
- How does the duration of antibiotic therapy (short vs. prolonged) affect the rate and modality of gut microbiota reconstitution?
Researchers will compare:
- Group A (Personalized Duration): Antibiotics are stopped after the patient maintains clinical stability (no fever and stable vital signs) for 72 consecutive hours.
- Group B (Standard of Care): Antibiotics are continued for a standard duration, typically at least 10 days, based on current clinical surveys and physician decision.
Participants will:
- Be randomized to receive either the personalized or the standard duration of antibiotic therapy once a Gram-negative infection is confirmed in the blood.
- Be monitored for 28 days to assess for new fever episodes, recurrence of infection, and overall survival.
- If participating in the microbiological sub-study, provide biological samples (blood, feces, and rectal swabs) at specific time points (at the onset of fever, at the end of treatment, and at day 28).
- Undergo specialized laboratory testing (Whole Metagenomic Sequencing) on the collected samples to evaluate the evolution of their intestinal and blood microbiota and the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes.
Read the detailed description
This is a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Upon confirmation of Gram-negative bacteraemia, eligible patients are randomized 1:1 to one of two treatment strategies:
- Experimental Arm (Personalized Duration): Antibiotic therapy is discontinued once the patient achieves and maintains clinical stability for 72 consecutive hours. Clinical stability is defined as apyrexia (Tc < 38°C) for at least 48 hours and a stable or improving qSOFA score.
- Control Arm (Standard of Care): Antibiotic therapy duration follows local clinical practice, with a suggested minimum duration of 10 days, consistent with current European and Asian hematological guidelines.
In parallel, a prospective observational microbiological sub-study will utilize Shotgun Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) to analyze the evolution of the intestinal and blood microbiota. The goal is to compare the rate of MDR organism colonization and the reconstitution of the healthy microbiome between the two antibiotic duration strategies.
All participants will undergo clinical monitoring until day 28. For those enrolled in the sub-study, biological samples (stool, rectal swabs, and blood) will be collected at baseline (V1), at the end of treatment (V4), and at the end of the study (V5). These samples will be analyzed to identify clinically significant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes.
- Conditions
- Bloodstream Infection, Gram Negative Infections, Bacteraemia Caused by Gram-Negative Bacteria, Febrile Neutropenia (FN)
- Being tested
- Clinical Stability-Driven Antibiotic Discontinuation Strategy, Standard of Care Antibiotic Duration
- Keywords
- Antibiotics, Bloodstream Infection, Hematological patients with febrile neutropenia, Gram-negative
- Medical subject headings
- Sepsis, Febrile Neutropenia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Clinical Stability-Driven Antibiotic Discontinuation StrategyOther
Also called A
A therapeutic strategy where the duration of antibiotic treatment for Gram-negative bacteraemia is determined by the achievement of clinical stability (defined as apyrexia for 48h and stable/improved qSOFA score) maintained for 72 consecutive hours
Standard of Care Antibiotic DurationOther
Also called B
This intervention follows the standard clinical practice for treating Gram-negative bacteraemia in hematological patients. The duration of therapy is not fixed by a stability-driven rule but is based on the treating physician's decision, with a suggested minimum of 10 days.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Standard of Care | Active comparator | Standard of care antibiotic therapy with a suggested minimum duration of 10 days. Receives: Other: Standard of Care Antibiotic Duration |
| Personalized Duration | Experimental | Patients in this arm will receive antibiotic therapy for a duration guided by clinical stability. Antibiotics will be discontinued after 72 consecutive hours of clinical stability, defined as apyrexia (Tc < 38°C) for at least 48 hours and stable or improved qSOFA score. Receives: Other: Clinical Stability-Driven Antibiotic Discontinuation Strategy |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Days Free from Anti-Gram-Negative Antibiotic Therapy within 28 days
Number of days that the participant is alive and free from any anti-Gram-negative antibiotic therapy, calculated from the date of the index blood culture collection (onset of infection) up to Day 28. Antibiotics active exclusively on Gram-positive bacteria (e.g., glycopeptides, daptomycin) and fluoroquinolone prophylaxis are excluded from this calculation.
Measured: From the date of index blood culture collection (Day 0) up to Day 28
Secondary outcomes (7)
Incidence of New Fever Episodes
Number of participants experiencing a new episode of fever (Tc ≥ 38.3°C) occurring after a period of apyrexia of at least 72 hours
Measured: From the end of antibiotic therapy up to Day 28
28-day All-cause Mortality
Number of participants who died from any cause within 28 days from the onset of the index infection (date of first positive blood culture)
Measured: Up to Day 28
Relapse of Bloodstream Infection (BSI) by the Same Pathogen
Number of participants with a new positive blood culture for the same Gram-negative pathogen identified in the index episode
Measured: From the end of antibiotic therapy up to Day 28
Recurrent BSI by Gram-negative Bacteria
Number of participants experiencing a new episode of bloodstream infection caused by any Gram-negative bacteria different from the index pathogen
Measured: From the end of antibiotic therapy up to Day 28
Emergence of Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDRO)
Number of participants with isolation of a new MDRO from recurrent positive blood cultures, or evidence of a worsened resistance profile compared to the index isolate
Measured: Within 90 days from the index blood culture collection
Incidence of Clostridioides difficile Infection (CDI)
Number of participants with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of Clostridioides difficile infection
Measured: Up to Day 28
Incidence of Antibiotic-Related Adverse Events
Number of participants experiencing adverse events (AE) judged by the investigator to be related to the antibiotic therapy (e.g., allergic reactions, renal toxicity)
Measured: Up to Day 28
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted28 Jan 2026
- Study start2 Feb 2026
- Primary completion28 Feb 2028 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Nov 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (19)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Bloodstream InfectionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 172 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Valeria Cento
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, Italy
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Valeria Cento, Humanitas University
- Investigators
- Valeria Cento, MD, PhD, Principal investigator, Humanitas University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07372131
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- PERaSTrA
- Acronym
- PERaSTrA
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 20 Jan 2026
- Last updated
- 24 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Publications
Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, Shankar-Hari M, Annane D, Bauer M, Bellomo R, Bernard GR, Chiche JD, Coopersmith CM, Hotchkiss RS, Levy MM, Marshall JC, Martin GS, Opal SM, Rubenfeld GD, van der Poll T, Vincent JL, Angus DC. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). JAMA. 2016 Feb 23;315(8):801-10. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.0287.
PubMed 26903338Peled JU, Gomes ALC, Devlin SM, Littmann ER, Taur Y, Sung AD, Weber D, Hashimoto D, Slingerland AE, Slingerland JB, Maloy M, Clurman AG, Stein-Thoeringer CK, Markey KA, Docampo MD, Burgos da Silva M, Khan N, Gessner A, Messina JA, Romero K, Lew MV, Bush A, Bohannon L, Brereton DG, Fontana E, Amoretti LA, Wright RJ, Armijo GK, Shono Y, Sanchez-Escamilla M, Castillo Flores N, Alarcon Tomas A, Lin RJ, Yanez San Segundo L, Shah GL, Cho C, Scordo M, Politikos I, Hayasaka K, Hasegawa Y, Gyurkocza B, Ponce DM, Barker JN, Perales MA, Giralt SA, Jenq RR, Teshima T, Chao NJ, Holler E, Xavier JB, Pamer EG, van den Brink MRM. Microbiota as Predictor of Mortality in Allogeneic Hematopoietic-Cell Transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2020 Feb 27;382(9):822-834. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1900623.
PubMed 32101664Taur Y, Coyte K, Schluter J, Robilotti E, Figueroa C, Gjonbalaj M, Littmann ER, Ling L, Miller L, Gyaltshen Y, Fontana E, Morjaria S, Gyurkocza B, Perales MA, Castro-Malaspina H, Tamari R, Ponce D, Koehne G, Barker J, Jakubowski A, Papadopoulos E, Dahi P, Sauter C, Shaffer B, Young JW, Peled J, Meagher RC, Jenq RR, van den Brink MRM, Giralt SA, Pamer EG, Xavier JB. Reconstitution of the gut microbiota of antibiotic-treated patients by autologous fecal microbiota transplant. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Sep 26;10(460):eaap9489. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aap9489.
PubMed 30257956von Dach E, Albrich WC, Brunel AS, Prendki V, Cuvelier C, Flury D, Gayet-Ageron A, Huttner B, Kohler P, Lemmenmeier E, McCallin S, Rossel A, Harbarth S, Kaiser L, Bochud PY, Huttner A. Effect of C-Reactive Protein-Guided Antibiotic Treatment Duration, 7-Day Treatment, or 14-Day Treatment on 30-Day Clinical Failure Rate in Patients With Uncomplicated Gram-Negative Bacteremia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2020 Jun 2;323(21):2160-2169. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.6348.
PubMed 32484534Giannella M, Pascale R, Toschi A, Ferraro G, Graziano E, Furii F, Bartoletti M, Tedeschi S, Ambretti S, Lewis RE, Viale P. Treatment duration for Escherichia coli bloodstream infection and outcomes: retrospective single-centre study. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2018 Oct;24(10):1077-1083. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2018.01.013. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
PubMed 29371138Yahav D, Franceschini E, Koppel F, Turjeman A, Babich T, Bitterman R, Neuberger A, Ghanem-Zoubi N, Santoro A, Eliakim-Raz N, Pertzov B, Steinmetz T, Stern A, Dickstein Y, Maroun E, Zayyad H, Bishara J, Alon D, Edel Y, Goldberg E, Venturelli C, Mussini C, Leibovici L, Paul M; Bacteremia Duration Study Group. Seven Versus 14 Days of Antibiotic Therapy for Uncomplicated Gram-negative Bacteremia: A Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial. Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Sep 13;69(7):1091-1098. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy1054.
PubMed 30535100Mermel LA, Allon M, Bouza E, Craven DE, Flynn P, O'Grady NP, Raad II, Rijnders BJ, Sherertz RJ, Warren DK. Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of intravascular catheter-related infection: 2009 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. 2009 Jul 1;49(1):1-45. doi: 10.1086/599376.
PubMed 19489710Stern A, Carrara E, Bitterman R, Yahav D, Leibovici L, Paul M. Early discontinuation of antibiotics for febrile neutropenia versus continuation until neutropenia resolution in people with cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Jan 3;1(1):CD012184. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012184.pub2.
PubMed 30605229Van de Wyngaert Z, Berthon C, Debarri H, Bories C, Bonnet S, Nudel M, Carpentier B, Legrand C, Barbieux S, Chauvet P, Simonnet A, Willaume A, Bossard JB, Renaud L, Wattebled KJ, Escure G, Branche N, Arib I, Titecat M, Quesnel B, Alfandari S. Discontinuation of antimicrobial therapy in adult neutropenic haematology patients: A prospective cohort. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2019 Jun;53(6):781-788. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.02.020. Epub 2019 Mar 2.
PubMed 30831232Aguilar-Guisado M, Espigado I, Martin-Pena A, Gudiol C, Royo-Cebrecos C, Falantes J, Vazquez-Lopez L, Montero MI, Rosso-Fernandez C, de la Luz Martino M, Parody R, Gonzalez-Campos J, Garzon-Lopez S, Calderon-Cabrera C, Barba P, Rodriguez N, Rovira M, Montero-Mateos E, Carratala J, Perez-Simon JA, Cisneros JM. Optimisation of empirical antimicrobial therapy in patients with haematological malignancies and febrile neutropenia (How Long study): an open-label, randomised, controlled phase 4 trial. Lancet Haematol. 2017 Dec;4(12):e573-e583. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(17)30211-9. Epub 2017 Nov 15.
PubMed 29153975Robilotti E, Holubar M, Seo SK, Deresinski S. Feasibility and applicability of antimicrobial stewardship in immunocompromised patients. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2017 Aug;30(4):346-353. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000380.
PubMed 28542093Trecarichi EM, Pagano L, Martino B, Candoni A, Di Blasi R, Nadali G, Fianchi L, Delia M, Sica S, Perriello V, Busca A, Aversa F, Fanci R, Melillo L, Lessi F, Del Principe MI, Cattaneo C, Tumbarello M; HaematologicMalignancies Associated Bloodstream Infections Surveillance (HEMABIS) registry - Sorveglianza Epidemiologica Infezioni Funginein Emopatie Maligne(SEIFEM) group, Italy. Bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae in onco-hematological patients: clinical impact of carbapenem resistance in a multicentre prospective survey. Am J Hematol. 2016 Nov;91(11):1076-1081. doi: 10.1002/ajh.24489. Epub 2016 Jul 29.
PubMed 27428072Gustinetti G, Mikulska M. Bloodstream infections in neutropenic cancer patients: A practical update. Virulence. 2016 Apr 2;7(3):280-97. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2016.1156821.
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