Complications of herpes zoster in cancer patients
Trung N Tran1, G Thomas Ray, Michael A Horberg
1From the Epidemiology Department, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Whitehouse Station , New Jersey , USA.
Abstract:
Cancer patients tend to have a higher incidence of herpes zoster (HZ), but little is known about their risk of HZ complications. We conducted a retrospective study of 424 newly diagnosed hematologic (HM, n = 140) and solid tumor malignancy (STM, n = 284) patients who developed HZ between January 2001 and December 2006 to measure the frequency and identify risk factors of HZ complications. Patients were adult members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California. HZ diagnosis and complications were confirmed by medical chart review. HM patients with HZ tended to have more HZ complications than STM patients (34% vs 23%, p = 0.02), largely due to more frequent non-pain complications. On multivariate analysis, older age and being male were associated with a higher risk of HZ complications in HM patients; more advanced cancer stage was associated with HZ complications in STM patients. HZ complications are frequent and can present extra disease burden in cancer patients who develop HZ.
Related Concept Videos
Healing II: Complications
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...


