Caspofungin versus anidulafungin in patients with invasive candidiasis: a retrospective study with propensity-score-matched analysis

Background: Echinocandins are recommended as an initial treatment for invasive candidiasis. Although safety and efficacy profiles of both anidulafungin and caspofungin are well established, direct head-to-head comparisons have not been reported before. Objective: Compare efficacy and safety of anidu...

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Main Authors: Reem Hasan Elajez, Dana Bakdach, Sara Al Balushi, Ahmed Zaqout, Rand Alattar, Tasneem Abdallah, Waleed Awouda, Godwin Wilson, Walid Al-Wali, Emad Ibrahim, Hussam Alsoub
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
Series:Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20499361251344777
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Summary:Background: Echinocandins are recommended as an initial treatment for invasive candidiasis. Although safety and efficacy profiles of both anidulafungin and caspofungin are well established, direct head-to-head comparisons have not been reported before. Objective: Compare efficacy and safety of anidulafungin versus caspofungin among patients with invasive candidiasis. Design: Retrospective observational study. Methods: Adult patients with invasive candidiasis who were treated with either anidulafungin or caspofungin for ⩾5 days were retrospectively reviewed over a period of 6 years. The primary endpoint was global response, defined as clinical and microbiological success at the end of treatment duration. Results: A total of 223 patients who received either anidulafungin ( n  = 176) or caspofungin ( n  = 47) were initially included. Propensity score matching (based on age, malignancy, level of care, presence of candidemia, and other factors) was performed to improve comparability of the two groups. As a result, 32 patients in the caspofungin arm and 79 patients in the anidulafungin arm were included in the final analysis. Around three-quarters of the cohort had candidemia, and the most common isolated Candida species were C. albicans and C. glabrata . Response rates were comparable between both groups, with the primary outcome of global response showing no significant difference (56.3% for the caspofungin group vs 63.3% for anidulafungin, p  = 0.490). Similarly, no differences between the two groups were observed in terms of 90-day all-cause mortality ( p  = 0.672) or any other secondary endpoints. Conclusion: Our data suggest that anidulafungin and caspofungin have comparable global response among patients with invasive candidiasis. Additionally, both studied echinocandins showed no significant difference in 90-day all-cause mortality. However, due to the limited sample size, larger studies are needed to confirm these results.
ISSN:2049-937X