March 1st 2003Drs. Guinan, McGuckin, andNowell have nicely reviewedthe risk factors associatedwith increased susceptibility to hospital-acquired infection in oncologypatients and also discussed preventivesteps to attenuate those risks.We agree that patients with malignanciespresent a challenge to thehealth-care provider, as infection willdevelop at some point in almost allcancer patients[1] and may be associatedwith significant mortality.[2]