The numbers of cancer patients subjected to chemotherapy-induced neutropenia steadily grows as the new indications for systemic treatment expand. When these patients develop fever, or other things signs of infection, they must receive immediate medical attention. This paper discusses the current therapeutic strategy for febrile neutropenia in cancer patients and reviews some of the newer approaches, which include empirical monotherapy, outpatient protocols, antibiotic prophylaxis and the use of haematopoietic growth factors. Curr Opin Infect Dis 11:401–409. 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers