title: Filgrastim helps to heal herpes zoster faster: two case reports.
abstract: Herpes zoster is an infectious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus that may occur sporadically at any age. We report on two patients with herpes zoster who received chemotherapy for breast cancer. Both patients were immunocompromised and received filgrastim therapy for the management of neutropenia. Zoster occurred during filgrastim therapy but the symptoms were alleviated rapidly in the course of therapy. We conclude that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor therapy helped symptom alleviation and accelerated the recovery from herpes zoster in our chemotherapy-treated patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ankara Education and Investigation Hospital of Ministry of Health, Mamak, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sayin
authors.forename: Bekir H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Bakkal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D000069585:Filgrastim; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D017698:Postmenopause; D017697:Premenopause; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D000069585:Filgrastim