RATIONALE: Antifungal therapy with voriconazole or amphotericin B may be an effective treatment for aspergillosis. It is not yet known whether voriconazole is more effective than amphotericin B in treating patients with aspergillosis.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of voriconazole with amphotericin B in treating patients with aspergillosis.

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the efficacy, safety, and toleration of voriconazole versus amphotericin B (CAB) in the treatment of acute invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. II. Compare the efficacy, safety, and toleration of voriconazole versus CAB followed by other antifungal therapy in the treatment of acute invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. III. Compare survival in patients treated with voriconazole versus CAB with or without other antifungal therapy. IV. Investigate resource utilization in patients treated with voriconazole versus CAB with or without other antifungal therapy.

OUTLINE: This is an open label, randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to center, site of infection, underlying disease, and baseline neutrophil count. Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive voriconazole IV every 12 hours for 7-28 days and continue with oral voriconazole twice a day for a maximum total duration of 12 weeks of therapy. Arm II: Patients receive intravenous amphotericin B daily for at least 2 weeks; treatment continues for a maximum of 12 weeks. Patients discontinued from study drug treatment because of toxicity, intolerance or clinical failure may receive alternative (nonstudy) antifungal therapy. All patients are monitored for a total of 16 weeks.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A sufficient number of patients will be accrued so that 212 patients (106 per study arm) will be eligible for the study.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Patient immunocompromised as the result of any of the following: Allogeneic bone marrow/peripheral stem cell transplant Autologous bone marrow/peripheral stem cell transplant Hematological malignancy (including lymphoma) Aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (currently on immunosuppressive treatment) Solid organ transplantation (other than lung) Other solid organ malignancy (after cytotoxic chemotherapy) HIV/AIDS High dose prolonged corticosteroid therapy (at least 20 mg/day of prednisolone or equivalent for more than 3 weeks) or prolonged therapy with other immunosuppressive agents (e.g., azathioprine, methotrexate) Diagnosis of either definite or probable acute invasive aspergillosis Fungal infection represents a new episode of acute invasive aspergillosis Patients with the following are ineligible: Aspergilloma or allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis Chronic invasive aspergillosis Sarcoidosis CMV pneumonia

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 12 and over Life expectancy: At least 72 hours Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) SGOT/SGPT no greater than 5 times ULN Alkaline phosphatase no greater than 5 times ULN Renal: Creatinine no greater than 2.5 mg/dL Other: No history of hypersensitivity or intolerance to azole antifungal agents including miconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, or itraconazole No history of hypersensitivity or severe intolerance to conventional or lipid formulations of amphotericin B Not pregnant or nursing Fertile women must use effective contraception Negative pregnancy test No prior participation on this trial Not on artificial ventilation and unlikely to be extubated within 24 hours No condition that could affect patient safety, preclude evaluation of response, or make study completion unlikely

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: At least 8 weeks since prior systemic treatment with amphotericin B or itraconazole At least 2 weeks since prior systemic antifungal therapy for more than 96 hours at doses greater than 0.5 mg/kg/day for conventional or lipid formulations of amphotericin B or greater than 200 mg/day of itraconazole No concurrent drugs that are metabolized primarily by hepatic cytochrome P-450 enzymes or which induce or inhibit these enzymes, such as terfenadine, loratidine, astemizole, midazolam, triazolam, cisapride, rifampin, rifabutin, barbiturates, carbamazepine, coumarins, sulfonylureas, nivarapine, erythromycin, ritonavir, delaviridine, omeprazole, and phenytoin At least 2 weeks since prior rifampin, rifabutin, carbamazepine, or barbiturates for more than 3 days No concurrent investigational drugs other than cytotoxics, antiretroviral agents, or therapies for AIDS-related opportunistic infection No concurrent filgrastim (G-CSF) or sargramostim (GM-CSF) other than for treatment of granulocytopenia No concurrent white blood cell transfusions No concurrent systemic antifungal agents active against Aspergillus spp. (e.g., itraconazole, lipid formulations of amphotericin B, or flucytosine)