title: Human Herpesvirus 8 Infections.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) or Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus is a recently identified virus that is associated with KS, multicentric Castleman's disease, and body cavity-based lymphomas. KS is the most common kind of cancer in AIDS patients and the initial AIDS-defining condition in over 20% of patients. HHV-8 DNA has now been detected in over 95% of KS tissue samples supporting the concept that HHV-8 has a causal role in KS. The discovery has opened new avenues for understanding the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of KS and related conditions.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco, Infectious Diseases Division, Box 1352, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Greenblatt