Sarcoma de Kaposi e infecção pelo vírus Herpes do tipo 8

Abstract

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an unusual neoplasm that remains a enigma to clinicians and investigators since its original description by Moritz Kaposi in 1872. The great interest in its epidemiology has been tremendous stimulated with the beginning of the complex of disorders, now known as AIDS. The cell origin, the concept of multicentricity versus metastases, the hormonal dependence and its hypothetically infectious origin, that contains the concept of reactive hyperplasia versus a true cancer, continue as matters of great investigation and controversy. Pathogenesis seems to involve a predisposed individual, genetically susceptible and/or immunologically compromised (iatrogenic or organically) who have a latent infection or comes into contact with a infectious agent, most likely a virus. The recent discovery of DNA sequences related to gammaherpesviruses in Kaposi’s sarcoma lesions of all epidemiological types, has led to the hypothesis that a newly identified virus, referred to as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), has an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease. The development of serologic markers for HHV-8 infection, the possibilities of propagation of these DNA sequences, the seroconversion to positivity for antibodies against HHV-8-related nuclear antigens before the clinical appearance of Kaposi’s sarcoma, supports, as a whole, the hypothesis that Kaposi’s sarcoma results from infection of HHV-8/KSHV.