Monoclonality or Oligoclonality of Human Herpesvirus 8 Terminal Repeat Sequences in Kaposi's Sarcoma and Other Diseases

Abstract

Several KS and PEL lesions are monoclonal expansions of a single infected cell, suggesting that HHV8 infection precedes tumor growth and thus supporting an etiologic role of latent HHV8 in these proliferations. Our finding that nodular KS lesions display all possible patterns of clonality supports the model according to which KS begins as a polyclonal disease with subsequent evolution to a monoclonal process.