Mortality in cancer patients previously diagnosed with herpes zoster in the hospital setting: a nationwide cohort study.

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.