Mortality in cancer patients previously diagnosed with herpes zoster in the hospital setting: a nationwide cohort study
Menée à partir des données des registres médicaux danois portant sur 28 997 patients atteints d'un cancer, cette étude analyse la relation entre une infection par l'herpès zoster avant le diagnostic de cancer (2 754 cas) et la mortalité
Background : Herpes zoster (HZ) is associated with underlying immunodeficiency and may thereby predict mortality of subsequent cancer. Methods : By using Danish nationwide medical databases, we identified all cancer patients with a prior hospital-based HZ diagnosis during 1982–2011 (n=2754) and a matched cancer cohort without prior HZ (n=26 243). We computed adjusted mortality rate ratios (aMRRs) associating prior HZ with mortality following cancer. Results : Prior HZ was associated with decreased mortality within the year after cancer diagnosis (aMRR 0.87; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.81–0.93), but not thereafter (aMRR 1.07; 95% CI: 0.99–1.15). However, prior HZ predicted increased mortality throughout the entire follow-up among patients aged <60 years (aMRR 1.39; 95% CI: 1.15–1.68) and those with disseminated HZ (aMRR 1.18; 95% CI: 1.01–1.37). The increased mortality rates were observed primarily for haematological and immune-related cancers. Conclusions : Overall, HZ was not a predictor of increased mortality following subsequent cancer.