Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8 is associated with multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). In MCD, infected B cells, although polyclonal, express a monotypic immunoglobulin Mλ phenotype, probably through editing toward λ light chain in mature B cells. They are considered to originate from pre-germinal center (GC) naive B cells. Both viral and human interleukin-6 contribute to the plasmacytic differentiation of these cells, and viral replication can be observed in some infected cells. PEL cells are clonal B cells considered as GC/post-GC B cells. One can also hypothesize that they originate from the same infected naive B cells and that additional factors could be responsible for their peculiar phenotype.
© 2019 by The American Society of Hematology.