In 144 patients followed in the Swiss HIV Cohort study, detectable levels of KSHV DNA in the blood were an indicator of a poor prognosis [13]. Patients in Zimbabwe initiated on ART for advanced AIDS-KS, also had a poorer outcome when pretreatment plasma KSHV levels were high [14]. The introduction of HAART was associated with a substantial reduction in the incidence of KS in many large cohorts [15–21], although some of this decline in incidence appears to have preceded the introduction of HAART [22]. A population-based,

record-linkage study of 472,378 individuals living with AIDS described a fall in the cumulative incidence of KS from 14.3% during 1980–1989, to 6.7% during 1990–1995, and a further fall to 1.8% during 1996–2006 [23]. Similarly, survival rates from KS have risen gradually during this period [24–26]. In contrast, KS continues Fludarabine to be a significant problem in Africa [27–32] although it is hoped that with increasing access to

HAART, outcomes will improve [33–35]. The decline in incidence of KS has been selleck chemical shown to be attributable to HAART, and NNRTI-based regimens are as effective as PI-based regimens in preventing KS [16,36]. Moreover, the SMART study assigned 5472 patients to continuous or intermittent use of ART, guided by CD4 cell count, and it found that patients receiving continuous ART had lower rates of KS (0.3 per 1000 person-years vs. 1.9, hazard ratio 7.0), as well as lower rates of opportunistic infections and deaths [37]. The optimal time to start HAART

for asymptomatic HIV infection is still unclear, and is being addressed in the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) study, an ongoing multicentre international trial Etofibrate designed to assess the risks and benefits including prevention of KS, of initiating HAART earlier than currently recommended [38]. Specific therapies against KSHV, the cause of KS, may also be helpful in the prevention of KS but published retrospective cohort studies are contradictory. A UK cohort study of 3688 people living with HIV showed that the risk of KS was reduced by ganciclovir and foscarnet exposure but not aciclovir [39]. However, data from a cohort of 935 MSM living with AIDS found that exposure to aciclovir, ganciclovir and foscarnet did not significantly reduce the risk of KS [40]. A small randomized controlled cross-over trial of oral vanganciclovir in 26 men reduced the frequency and quantity of KSHV replication, but this returned to baseline levels soon after stopping therapy [41]. HAART results in significant falls in the levels of oropharyngeal KSHV, whereas valaciclovir and famciclovir have only a modest effect that is not synergistic with HAART [42]. Local treatments are most useful for managing localized or symptomatic KS lesions or for cosmesis. However, local therapies are limited by their inability to treat large areas or to affect the development of lesions in untreated areas.