Disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma and HCV infection: only a casual relationship? A case report.

The authors present a case of disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in a male patient, HIV negative and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive. Although it is well-known that in HCV positive patients the onset of cutaneous diseases such as porphyria cutanea tarda, mixed essential cryoglobulinemia, lichen planus, polyarteritis nodosa, itch/prurigo, is possible, papers on its association with disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV negative patients are rare in the literature. Such an association is probably not a matter of chance: in fact, the changes to the immune system induced by the HCV virus, in synergy with those induced by the Human Herpetic virus-8, could likewise play a role in the development of Kaposi's sarcoma as happens in patients with immunodeficiency .