Association of Epstein–Barr Virus with Leiomyosarcomas in Young People with AIDS

Abstract

Background. Children with the acquired im-munodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have an unusually high incidence of smooth-muscle tumors (leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas) in addition to malignant lymphomas. We tested the hypothesis that the smooth-muscle tumors in these children are associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Methods. Tissue specimens of five leiomyosarcomas and two leiomyomas from five children and one young man with AIDS were studied for evidence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and EBV by in situ hy-bridization and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Comparison specimens included samples of lei-omyosarcoma and leiomyoma from HIV-negative children. EBV clonality of leiomyosarcomas was determined by Southern blot analysis with oligonucleotide probes for EBV terminal-repeat fragments. Tumor specimens were tested by immunoperoxidase staining for infiltration by B lymphocytes and expression of the EBV receptor. Se-rologic testing for EBV was performed.