Disseminated Nocardiosis in a Breast Cancer Patient Caused by Nocardia otitidiscaviarum: A Case Report of Tertiary Centre in Saudi Arabia

Nocardiosis is a rare opportunistic disease that primarily affects patients with deficient immune systems. Nocardia otitidiscaviarum is one of the rare species of Nocardia and it represents less than 3% of all Nocardia cases. Clinical presentation can be varied according to the affected organ. This study describes a case of a breast cancer patient who is immunocompromised due to the chemotherapy. This patient presented with a feature of febrile neutropenia. Investigations of this case led to the diagnosis of Nocardia otitidiscaviarum. Treatment of this underlying infection required to hold the chemotherapy for good time and to adapt patient-specific cancer treatment according to the balance between both need of cancer control and infection treatment according to the susceptibility test as in our case.