HHV8 genotype study in an HIV+ patient with concurrent Kaposi sarcoma and extracavitary primary effusion lymphoma

Latent human herpes virus 8 (HHV8) infection has been implicated in malignancies occurring predominantly in HIV+ patients, including Kaposi sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma  (PEL), plasmablastic lymphoma and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD).1 However, the oncogenic mechanisms remain enigmatic. Whether different serotypes of HHV8 have the same oncogenic potential, and in patients with concurrent HHV8-related malignancies whether intrapatient genotype variability exists remains to be studied. Such knowledge will be important in understanding the pathogenesis of HHV8-associated neoplasms. We report a case of an HIV+ male with disseminated KS and PEL who subsequently developed recurrent extracavitary relapse of PEL. HHV8 subtyping revealed that both the KS and extracavitary PEL were caused by HHV8 serotype C.

A Chinese man aged 26 years who had sex with men presented with a non-healing left foot lesion, suspected to be a callus. The lesion did not respond to local therapies and progressed to multiple violaceous papules...