Human herpesvirus 8 DNA sequences are present in bone marrow from HIV‐negative patients with lymphoproliferative disorders and from healthy donors

Bone marrow (BM) from patients affected by multiple myeloma (MM), exhibiting monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) or with non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) as well as from healthy donors were investigated for the presence of human herpesvirus‐8 (HHV‐8) DNA sequences. ORF 26 sequences were detected in 36–56% of the patients and in 29% of the controls. In a few cases, two other HHV‐8 DNA sequences were also detected. These observations indicate that the presence of the HHV‐8 genome in BM is relatively common in different groups of patients as well as in healthy individuals and do not support an alleged role for HHV‐8 in MM.