Leukapheresis cells of patients with multiple myeloma collected after mobilization with chemotherapy and G-CSF do not bear Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus DNA.

The presence of Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in bone marrow dendritic cells, in bone marrow biopsies and in dendritic cells of peripheral blood from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has been reported. These data suggested an association between infection with KSHV and the development of MM. The mobilization of infected cells into leukapheresis products (LP) has also been described. We assessed the LP of 35 patients with MM for the presence of KSHV using a sensitive and specific nested PCR assay, capable of detecting one copy of the virus genome. None of the samples tested revealed positivity for KSHV after amplification and subsequent hybridization with a KSHV-specific probe. Amplification products of approximately the same size as the positive control seen in eight samples did not hybridize with the specific oligonucleotide. No homologies of these products to the KSHV genome could be discovered after sequencing. Therefore we have no evidence that LP of patients with MM bear KSHV, and they can therefore be used as a source for dendritic cells for immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]