Use of antiherpes drugs and the risk of Kaposi's sarcoma: Data from the multicenter AIDS Cohort Study

Marshall J. Glesby*, Donald R. Hoover, Shigui Weng, Neil M.H. Graham, John P. Phair, Roger Detels, Monto Ho, Alfred J. Saah

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

122 Scopus citations

Abstract

To determine if use of antiherpes drugs protects against the development of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), data from 935 homosexual men with AIDS from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study were analyzed. In nested case-control analysis, neither acyclovir use for human immunodeficiency virus infection (odds ratio [OR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-1.26; P = .39) nor acyclovir use for any indication (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.76-1.38; P = .89) was associated with a reduced risk of KS as initial AIDS diagnosis. In longitudinal analysis, acyclovir was also not protective against developing KS as a late manifestation of AIDS (after initial non-KS AIDS diagnosis). Among men with cytomegalovirus disease, ganciclovir use (relative risk [RR], 0.56; 95% CI, 0.22-1.44; P = .23) and foscarnet use (RR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.051-3.10; P = .38) were associated (although not significantly) with a reduced risk of KS. Thus, acyclovir use does not appear to reduce the risk of KS, but further study of other antiherpes drugs such as ganciclovir and foscarnet is warranted.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1477-1480
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume173
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1996

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Immunology and Allergy

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