KSHV and the pathogenesis of Kaposi sarcoma:
listening to human biology and medicine
Don Ganem
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, G.W. Hooper Foundation, and Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, University of California, San Francisco.



The linkage of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) to infection by a novel human herpesvirus (Kaposi sarcoma–
associated herpesvirus [KSHV]) is one of the great successes of contemporary biomedical research
and was achieved by using advanced genomic technologies in a manner informed by a nuanced
understanding of epidemiology and clinical investigation. Ongoing efforts to understand the molecular
mechanisms by which KSHV infection predisposes to KS continue to be powerfully influenced
by insights emanating from the clinic. Here, recent developments in KS pathogenesis are reviewed,
with particular emphasis on clinical, pathologic, and molecular observations that highlight the
many differences between this process and tumorigenesis by other oncogenic viruses.