Incidence and time trends of herpes zoster among patients with head and neck cancer who did and did not undergo radiotherapy: A population-based cohort study

Author:

Lee Peng-YiORCID,Lai Jung-Nien,Chiu Lu-TingORCID,Wei Yu-TingORCID

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to determine the risk and time trends of herpes zoster among patients with head and neck cancer, with or without radiotherapy. Methods A total of 2160 patients with head and neck cancer were enrolled. The radiotherapy and non- radiotherapy cohorts were frequency-matched at a 1:1 ratio according to sex, age, and index date. Moreover, 1080 matched non-cancer individuals were considered normal controls. Data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database and Cancer Registry. The primary end point was the incidence of herpes zoster, and the adjusted confounding factors were age, sex, comorbidities, oncological surgery, and chemotherapy. Results The incidence of herpes zoster was higher in cancer patients than in non-cancer individuals but did not significantly differ (13.67 vs. 8.06 per 1,000 person-years, p = 0.18). The risk of herpes zoster was significantly higher in the radiotherapy cohort than in the non-radiotherapy cohort (18.55 vs. 9.06 per 1,000 person-years, p = 0.03). The 5-year incidence rates in the radiotherapy and non-radiotherapy cohorts were 8.9% and 5%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Survival analysis indicated there was no immortal time bias. The time trends in the radiotherapy cohort persistently showed a high risk within the first 2 years, which decreased thereafter. Only patients with comorbid rheumatoid arthritis showed a significantly high risk of herpes zoster (p = 0.02). Oncological surgery and chemotherapy had no impact on the development of herpes zoster. Conclusions This nationwide population-based study showed that patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy are at an increased risk of herpes zoster. Health care professionals should pay more attention to this vulnerable group to improve their quality of life.

Funder

MOST Clinical Trial Consortium for Stroke

Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial Center

Tseng-Lien Lin Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference29 articles.

1. Pathogenesis and current approaches to control of varicella-zoster virus infections;AA Gershon;Clin Microbiol Rev,2013

2. Clinical practice: Herpes zoster;JI Cohen;N Engl J Med,2013

3. Herpes zoster in older adults;K Schmader;Clin Infect Dis,2001

4. Varicella zoster virus;ML McCrary;J Am Acad Dermatol,1999

5. The epidemiology of herpes zoster in patients with newly diagnosed cancer;LA Habel;Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev,2013

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3