Caspofungin Acetate, Fluconazole, or Voriconazole in Preventing Fungal Infections in Patients Following Donor Stem Cell Transplant

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine if caspofungin (caspofungin acetate) is associated with a lower incidence of proven/probable invasive fungal infections (IFI) during the first 42 days following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) at high-risk for IFI compared with azole (fluconazole or voriconazole) prophylaxis. EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine if caspofungin is associated with a lower incidence of proven/probable IFI during the first 100 days following high-risk allogeneic HCT compared with azole (fluconazole or voriconazole) prophylaxis. (Exploratory) II. To determine if caspofungin is associated with a lower incidence of proven/probable IFI during the first 42 and 100 days following high-risk allogeneic HCT compared with fluconazole prophylaxis. (Exploratory) III. To determine if caspofungin is associated with a lower incidence of proven/probable IFI during the first 42 and 100 days following high-risk allogeneic HCT compared with voriconazole prophylaxis. (Exploratory) IV. To determine if caspofungin is associated with a superior fungal-free survival (FFS) (time to death or proven/probable IFI) at 42 and 100 days following high-risk allogeneic HCT compared with azole prophylaxis. (Exploratory) V. To describe the effect that caspofungin and azoles have on the incidence and severity of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). (Exploratory) VI. To define the test characteristics of weekly Fungitell assay testing for identifying IFI in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients receiving antifungal prophylaxis during the post-transplant neutropenic period. (Exploratory) VII. To create a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) specimen bank in anticipation of the development of biology correlative studies exploring the relationship between IFI and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes involved in immunity. (Exploratory) OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. ARM I: Patients receive caspofungin acetate intravenously (IV) over 1 hour once daily (QD) beginning within 24 hours of allogeneic HSCT (day -1 or 0) and continuing until day 42 in the absence of invasive fungal infections or disease progression. ARM II: Patients receive fluconazole IV over 1-2 hours QD or orally (PO) QD; or voriconazole IV over 1-2 hours QD or PO twice daily (BID) beginning within 24 hours of allogeneic HSCT (day -1 or 0) and continuing until day 42 in the absence of invasive fungal infections or disease progression. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up until day 100.