High incidence of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection in HIV-related solid immunoblastic/plasmablastic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is known to be associated with two distinct lymphoproliferative disorders: primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD)/MCD-associated plasmablastic lymphoma. We here report a high incidence of KSHV infection in solid HIV-associated immunoblastic/plasmablastic non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), in patients lacking effusions and without evidence of (prior) MCD. Within a cohort of 99 HIV-related NHLs, 10 cases were found to be KSHV positive on the basis of immunostaining for KSHV LNA-1 as well as KSHV-specific polymerase chain reaction. All but one of the tumors coexpressed Epstein-Barr virus. Interestingly, all KSHV-positive cases belonged to a distinctive subgroup of 26 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas characterized by the expression of CD138 (syndecan-1) and plasmablastic/immunoblastic morphology. These KSHV-positive lymphomas were preceded by Kaposi sarcoma in 60% of the patients and involved the gastrointestinal tract in 80%. Our results indicate that KSHV infection is not restricted to PEL and MCD; it is also common (38%) in HIV-related solid immunoblastic/plasmablastic lymphomas.