AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma is a clonal neoplasm

• Published in: Clinical cancer research Vol. 1; no. 3; pp. 257 - 260
• Main Authors: RABKIN, C. S, BEDI, G, MUSABA, E, SUNKUTU, R, MWANSA, N, SIDRANSKY, D, BIGGAR, R. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA American Association for Cancer Research 01-03-1995
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - complications; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Biopsy; DNA, Neoplasm - genetics; Female; HIV Seropositivity - complications; HIV-1; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Medical sciences; Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Receptors, Androgen - genetics; Restriction Mapping; Sarcoma, Kaposi - genetics; Sarcoma, Kaposi - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - genetics; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; X Chromosome; Immunopathology; Skin disease; AIDS; Hemopathy; Malignant tumor; Immune deficiency; In vitro; Infection; Kaposi sarcoma; Cutaneous hematologic disease; Biopsy; Viral disease; Complication; Skin; X-Chromosome; Clone
• ISSN: 1078-0432; 1557-3265

Kaposi's sarcoma is generally believed to be a non-neoplastic hyperproliferation because it may regress spontaneously and
its spindle cells lack features of typical tumor cells, such as aneuploidy, nuclear atypia, and permissive growth in cell
culture. A fundamental characteristic of neoplasms is clonality, in that they arise from clonal replication of a single cell
whereas reactive processes are derived from polyclonal proliferation. We used an X chromosome inactivation assay to determine
the clonality of Kaposi's sarcoma nodules from patients with AIDS-related disease. The assay is based on a methyl-sensitive
restriction digest followed by PCR amplification of the highly polymorphic androgen receptor gene. Two of three evaluable
cases had a monoclonal pattern of inactivation, and the third case had a clonal expansion of cells with an altered microsatellite
repeat sequence. These data suggest that Kaposi's sarcoma (at least in the AIDS setting) is a clonal neoplasm.