Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's not clear what causes Castleman disease. Infection by a virus called the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is associated with Castleman disease, and doctors suspect that it may play a role, especially in multicentric Castleman disease. This virus has also been linked to the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancerous tumor of the blood vessel walls, which is also common in people with multicentric Castleman disease. People who are HIV-positive are more likely to have both Castleman disease and Kaposi's sarcoma.
Researchers aren't clear what the precise role of HHV-8 may be, though it appears that it may cause malfunctioning immune system cells to reproduce rapidly. The immune system cells produce a protein called interleukin-6 (IL-6) that contributes to the overgrowth of lymphatic cells and leads to many of the signs and symptoms of Castleman disease.
Generally, people with unicentric Castleman disease aren't infected with HHV-8.
- Aster JC, et al. Castleman's disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 19, 2011.
- Castleman disease. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003093-pdf.pdf. Accessed July 19, 2011.
- About Castleman's disease. International Castleman's Disease Organization. http://www.castlemans.org/ICDO_booklet_v3.pdf. Accessed July 19, 2011.
- Pica F, et al. Transmission of human herpesvirus 8: An update. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 2007;20:152.
- Bandera B, et al. Treatment of unicentric Castleman disease with neoadjuvant rituximab. Chest. 2010;138:1239.
- Reddy D, et al. HIV-associated multicentric Castleman disease. Current Opinion in Oncology. In press. Accessed [month day, 2011]. Accessed July 19, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on