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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Identifying Dysregulated Genes Induced by Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV)
Published on: September 15, 2010
Increased risk for opportunistic infections during chemotherapy in HIV-infected patients with Kaposi's sarcoma
A Plettenberg1, U van Dyk, A Stoehr
1Department of Dermatology, General Hospital St. Georg, Germany.
Background:
Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is the most frequent neoplasm in patients with AIDS, responsible for death in about 20-30% of the affected patients.
Objective:
To determine the frequency of opportunistic infections (OI) and change of CD4+ cell counts in patients with KS treated with chemotherapy compared to a group of matched-pair patients without chemotherapy.
Methods:
In a prospective study, the clinical courses of 35 HIV-infected patients with KS treated with chemotherapy were compared with 35 matched-pair patients without chemotherapy.
Results:
During the observation period of 6 months, 11 OI occurred in 10 patients of the chemotherapy group and 5 OI in 5 patients of the control group. With respect to the changes of CD4+ cell counts, no significant differences could be observed.
Conclusion:
The risk for OI in HIV-infected patients with KS is increased while receiving chemotherapy. This should be reflected upon when chemotherapy is taken into consideration.
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