Candida-reactive T cells for the diagnosis of invasive Candida infection

Immunocompromised patients are at increased risk for invasive Candida infections. Blood cultures are the current gold standard diagnostic method, however, false negatives remain a clinical challenge. The working group of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Oliver A. Cornely, FECMM developed in a research collaboration with Miltenyi Biotec GmbH a new technique measuring Candida-reactive T cells as diagnostic read-out for invasive Candida infection.

In a pilot study, we followed the treatment course of a 56-year-old patient with HIV-associated Burkitt lymphoma with blood culture negative invasive Candida infection of the lumbar vertebral spine.

The Candida-reactive T cell assay has potential to complement current diagnostic assays for invasive Candida infection and thus to support targeted treatment. For further information please refer to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28872711 or contact the corresponding author philipp.koehler@uk-koeln.de