HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch

The HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch (HAMB), which was founded in October 1996, conducts laboratory and clinical research in AIDS-related malignancies, HIV disease, viral-induced tumors, and related diseases. The mission of HAMB is to understand the pathogenesis of these diseases and to develop novel therapies for them based on this understanding. HAMB research is translational and is comprised of an integrated laboratory and clinical effort. Laboratory research is focused on developing and studying new therapies for HIV infection, on the tumors that cause HIV-associated malignancies, and on developing novel therapies for HIV-associated cancers. Clinical research is currently directed towards AIDS-related malignancies.

Investigators in the branch have previously made substantial contributions to the development of AIDS therapies including zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), zalcitabine (ddC), and daurunavir, and therapies for Kaposi sarcoma including paclitaxel. Ongoing laboratory projects related to HIV include studies of the resistance to anti-HIV drugs, efforts to develop novel anti-HIV drugs and a program to develop novel anti-AIDS drugs with a focus on protease inhibitors that are effective against resistant HIV. HAMB investigators also conduct a number of studies of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also called human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), including the role of KSHV-encoded microRNAs and their effect on cellular genes; the activation of KSHV lytic replication and specific KSHV genes; and the pathogenesis of KSHV-associated tumors and diseases. HAMB has an active clinical program that is studying and developing improved therapies for KSHV-associated tumors (Kaposi sarcoma, multicentric Castleman disease (MCD), and primary effusion lymphoma), as well as other HIV-associated tumors including primary central nervous system lymphoma and anal cancer. HAMB researchers are also investigating KSHV-inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS), a disease related to MCD that is also caused by KSHV.