Correspondence

Absence of Herpesvirus in AIDS-Associated Smooth-Muscle Tumors

N Engl J Med 1996; 335:1690November 28, 1996

Article

To the Editor:

Last year we reported finding Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in smooth-muscle–tumor cells in leiomyosarcoma tissues from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).1 This was the first evidence of EBV infection of nonlymphoid cells of mesenchymal origin. Almost simultaneously, evidence of a new herpesvirus, known as Kaposi's sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8, was found in Kaposi's sarcoma tissues from patients with AIDS.2 The mesenchymal origin of both leiomyosarcoma and Kaposi's sarcoma and the recent demonstration of coinfection of cells of body-cavity–based B-cell lymphomas by both EBV and this new herpesvirus3 suggested that KSHV may also coinfect AIDS-associated leiomyosarcomas and cooperatively contribute to the malignant transformation of smooth-muscle cells.

We tested total intracellular DNA extracted from three leiomyosarcoma tumors from two of our original patients 1 and from three leiomyosarcoma tumors from two additional patients for sequences of KSHV using standard polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) amplification2 and nested-PCR methods.4 None of these four patients had clinical findings characteristic of Kaposi's sarcoma. All the tumors contained high levels of EBV1 (and unpublished data). There was no evidence by PCR of KSHV in any of these tissues; appropriate negative and positive controls tested simultaneously gave the expected results.

The pathogenesis of smooth-muscle tumors in young patients with AIDS thus appears to be unrelated to KSHV infection. The role of herpesvirus in the oncogenesis of AIDS-associated smooth-muscle tumors appears to be attributable solely to EBV, or perhaps to EBV and another virus that remains undiscovered.

Hal B. Jenson, M.D.
Charles T. Leach, M.D.
Eduardo A. Montalvo, Ph.D.
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78284

Jung-Chung Lin, Ph.D.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333

Sharon B. Murphy, M.D.
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611

4 References

1. 1

   McClain KL, Leach CT, Jenson HB, et al. Association of Epstein-Barr virus with leiomyosarcomas in young people with AIDS. N Engl J Med 1995;332:12-18
   Full Text | Web of Science | Medline

2. 2

   Chang Y, Cesarman E, Pessin MS, et al. Identification of herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. Science 1994;266:1865-1869
   CrossRef | Web of Science | Medline

3. 3

   Cesarman E, Moore PS, Rao PH, Inghirami G, Knowles DM, Chang Y. In vitro establishment and characterization of two acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related lymphoma cell lines (BC-1 and BC-2) containing Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-like (KSHV) DNA sequences. Blood 1995;86:2708-2714
   Web of Science | Medline

4. 4

   Lin JC, Lin SC, Mar EC, et al. Is Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus detectable in semen of HIV-infected homosexual men? Lancet 1995;346:1601-1602
   CrossRef | Web of Science | Medline

Citing Articles (1)

Citing Articles

1. 1

   J.Y-F. Chang, C-S. Wang, C-C. Hung, T-F. Tsai, C-H. Hsiao. (2002) Multiple Epstein-Barr virus-associated subcutaneous angioleiomyomas in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. British Journal of Dermatology 147:3, 563-567
   CrossRef