{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T05:03:20Z","timestamp":1780635800056,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780012800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a vascular malignancy closely associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection, and its diagnosis relies on combined clinical, histopathological and molecular assessment. This study aimed to detect HHV-8 DNA in archived formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) biopsy samples of KS by real time PCR and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of PCR compared with histopathology. Meth ods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 98 FFPE biopsy specimens with histopathologically confirmed KS and 30 FFPE biopsy specimens with non-KS vascular lesions were included as the patient and control groups, respectively. HHV-8 DNA was analyzed in all samples using real-time PCR. Diagnostic performance parameters, including sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy, were calculated, and agreement with histopathological diagnosis was assessed using Cohen\u2019s kappa coefficient. Results: HHV-8 PCR was positive in 89.8% (88\/98) of KS cases and negative in all controls (30\/30; 100%). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall accuracy were 89.8%, 100%, 100%, 75.0% and 92.2%, respectively. Overall agreement between PCR and histopathology was 92.2% with a Cohen\u2019s kappa of 0.34 (p &lt; 0.001), indicating fair concordance. PCR positivity rates and cycle threshold values did not differ significantly between histopathological stages, or according to histopathological and immunohistochemical parameters. Conclusions: HHV-8 PCR in archived FFPE KS biopsies shows high specificity and good sensitivity and acts as a complementary diagnostic tool with fair agreement with histopathology. It is particularly valuable in diagnostic gray areas but should always be interpreted together with clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical findings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18060623","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T06:17:31Z","timestamp":1780467451000},"page":"623","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Diagnostic Performance of PCR-Based Detection of Human Herpesvirus 8 DNA in Archived Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded Biopsy Specimens of Kaposi Sarcoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Cemal","family":"\u00c7i\u00e7ek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0585-1125","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Efe","family":"Yeti\u015fgin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Pathology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9006-5267","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayfer","family":"Bak\u0131r","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8832-2201","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elif Tu\u011f\u00e7e","family":"G\u00fcner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Murat","family":"Alper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Pathology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3576-4380","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Murat","family":"Aral","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Health Science Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara 06170, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17572","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-023-44800-5","article-title":"Prognostic analysis of cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma based on a competing risk model","volume":"13","author":"Qian","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sci. 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