Kaposi's Sarcoma in AIDS: High incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr virus in tumor lesions and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Kaposi's sarcoma in Uganda

ABSTRACT

With the advent of AIDS; Kaposi's sarcom (KS) has become one of the leading malignancies in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently; DNA sequences from a new human herpesvirus called KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus type 8 have been found in KS tumor lesions as revealed by polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization. In contrast; only 31(11/36) of the normal skin biopsies from the same patient population were positive. The frequency of KSHV DNA detection in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of KS patients was also high (84; 31/37). Similar analyses revealed the presence of cytomegalovirus (21in KS lesions) to be discordant with KS PBMC (70; 26/37) were; however; positive for Epstein-Barr virus sequences. In addition; KSHV DNA was not found in the PBMC of Ugandans without KS. (Source J. Infect. Dis. 1997 April; 175(4)947-50)