Ronald T. Mitsuyasu, MD

Malignancies have been detected in approximately 40% of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sometime during the course of their illness.

Malignancies have been detected in approximately 40% of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sometime during the course of their illness. These cancers have been both a primary cause of death in some patients and also a source of considerable morbidity. In the current era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are surviving longer than ever. HAART appears to have substantially reduced the incidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and may enhance the efficacy of treatment for those patients who do develop these tumors. Unfortunately, HAART has not shown a similar effect on the development of other types of neoplasms, and caring for patients who develop malignancies in the setting of HIV remains a challenge. Furthermore, HAART is not available universally, with many patients in resource-poor developing countries not having access to antiretroviral drugs.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is the most common malignancy associated with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Recent years have witnessed a decline in the overall incidence of AIDS-related KS, as well as a greater

The occurrence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in patients with HIV infection is more than 7,000 times higher than in the non-HIV infected population. The reason for this association is unclear but may involve decreased immune surveillance as a result of the profound cellular immune deficiency caused by HIV, a sexually transmitted KS-inducing virus, whose KS-transforming capabilities may be enhanced by HIV, or a direct or indirect effect of HIV itself in susceptible individuals.