Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus at 27

Abstract

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) was discovered 27 years ago and its link to several pathologies – Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and the B cell variant of Multicentric Castleman disease – is now well established. However, many questions remain about how KSHV causes tumors. Here, I will review studies from the last few years (primarily 2019–2021) that report new information about KSHV biology and tumorigenesis, including new results about KSHV proteins implicated in tumorigenesis, genetic and environmental variability in KSHV-related tumor development, and potential vulnerabilities of KSHV-caused tumors that could be novel therapeutic targets.

Keywords

• KSHV
• HHV-8
• Kaposi's sarcoma
• PEL
• Viral oncogenesis