What Is Castleman Disease?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
2. Causes
The exact causes behind Castleman disease are not fully known. We do know, however, that certain viruses are a contributing factor in most cases. One of these is the herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8). This virus is also the cause of Kaposi’s sarcoma, which is a variety of cancer that causes masses of tissue to form in the lymph nodes in the skin, and in other organs.
Castleman disease is also associated with the HIV virus. In about half of the cases where the patient is not HIV positive, the patient will also have HHV-8. Most of those that are HIV positive will also have the HHV-8 virus.
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