Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37195970›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2023

Impact of valganciclovir therapy on severe IRIS-Kaposi Sarcoma mortality: An open-label, parallel, randomized controlled trial.

Patricia Volkow, Leslie Chavez Galan, Lucero Ramon-Luing, Judith Cruz-Velazquez, Patricia Cornejo-Juarez, Isabel Sada-Ovalle, Rogelio Perez-Padilla, Beda Islas-Muñoz, Kaposi Sarcoma Study Group

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Risk and Disease in Kidney Donors and Transplant Recipients With HIV in the United States.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026
    Article
  4. Viral oncogenesis in cancer: from mechanisms to therapeutics.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Patricia VolkowInfectious Disease Department, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0002-1991-0923
Leslie Chavez GalanIntegrative Inmunology Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0002-2334-0361
Lucero Ramon-LuingIntegrative Inmunology Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City, Mexico.
Judith Cruz-VelazquezCytogenetic Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.
Patricia Cornejo-JuarezInfectious Disease Department, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.
Isabel Sada-OvalleIntegrative Inmunology Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City, Mexico.
Rogelio Perez-PadillaDepartment of Research on Tobacco and COPD, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City, Mexico.
Beda Islas-MuñozInfectious Disease Department, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.
Kaposi Sarcoma Study Group
Instituto Nacional de Cancerología · MXInstituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias · MX

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionHigh HHV-8 viral load (VL) in Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) has been associated with Severe Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (Severe-IRIS-KS), which can occur after initiating cART, and leads to high mortality, particularly in patients with pulmonary involvement. We investigate if valganciclovir (as an anti-HHV-8 agent) initiated before cART reduces the mortality associated with Severe-IRIS-KS and the incidence of Severe-IRIS-KS.

methodsOpen-label parallel-group randomized clinical trial in AIDS cART naïve patients with disseminated KS (DKS) as defined by at least two of the following: pulmonary, lymph-node, or gastrointestinal involvement, lymphedema, or ≥30 skin lesions. In the experimental group (EG), patients received valganciclovir 900 mg BID four weeks before cART and continued until week 48; in the control group (CG), cART was initiated on week 0. Non-severe-IRIS-KS was defined as: an increase in the number of lesions plus a decrease of ≥one log10 HIV-VL, or an increase of ≥50cells/mm3 or ≥2-fold in baseline CD4+cells. Severe-IRIS-KS was defined as abrupt clinical worsening of KS lesions and/or fever after ruling out another infection following cART initiation, and at least three of the following: thrombocytopenia, anemia, hyponatremia, or hypoalbuminemia.

results40 patients were randomized and 37 completed the study. In the ITT analysis, at 48 weeks, total mortality was the same in both groups (3/20), severe-IRIS-KS attributable mortality was 0/20 in the EG, compared with 3/20 in the CG (p = 0.09), similar to the per-protocol analysis: 0/18 in the EG, and 3/19 in the control group (p = 0.09). The crude incidence rate of severe-IRIS-KS was four patients developed a total of 12 episodes of Severe-IRIS-KS in the CG and two patients developed one episode each in the EG. Mortality in patients with pulmonary KS was nil in the EG (0/5) compared with 3/4 in the CG (P = 0.048). No difference was found between groups in the number of non-S-IRIS-KS events. Among survivors at week 48, 82% achieved >80% remission.

conclusionsAlthough mortality attributable to KS was lower in the EG the difference was not statistically significant.

Indexed as

AnemiaHerpesvirus 8, HumanHIV InfectionsSarcoma, KaposiAntiretroviral Therapy, Highly ActiveHumansValganciclovirValganciclovir

Identifiers

PMID37195970
PMCPMC10191357
OpenAlexW4377011496

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.