
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 16, 1994                   TAG: 9412160042
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HERPES, CANCER LINKED

Genetic evidence of a new herpes virus found in tumors of Kaposi's sarcoma suggests the deadly cancer that strikes more than a fourth of all gay men with AIDS may be caused by a virus.

A research group led by a team at Columbia University reports that unique DNA sequences, or fragments of genes, were isolated from tissues of Kaposi's sarcoma lesions taken from AIDS patients and that the gene material may be from a previously unknown human herpes virus.

``The DNA sequences we found contain portions of at least three different genes that are unique to herpes virus,'' Dr. Yuan Chang of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons said Thursday. ``The evidence strongly suggests that these DNA sequences belong to a new herpes sequence, but additional tests are needed to confirm it.''

Finding the viral gene sequences in nearly all of the Kaposi's lesions tested raises the intriguing possibility that the same virus is the cause, or at least a contributor, to the cancer, said Chang. But she emphasized this is not yet proven.

If researchers can prove that a virus causes KS, it may be possible one day to develop a diagnostic test to identify people most susceptible to the disease and perhaps find a drug that would kill the virus and, thus, prevent the cancer.

Chang and her husband, Dr. Patrick Moore of the Columbia University School of Public Health, lead a team of researchers whose findings will be published today in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Kaposi's sarcoma is found in 25 percent to 50 percent of all gay men infected with HIV, which causes AIDS.

by CNB