Question
Can someone who is HIV undetectable still get Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS)?
1 October 2026. Related: All topics, Complications and coinfections, Opportunistic infections.
Hi there, thanks for this website. I have a question about Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS) and how someone with an undetectable viral load can still get KS?
Answer
Hi there
Thanks – yes this can happen. KS has also been reported in people who are HIV negative (see below).
Even when HIV viral load is undetectable, there is still a risk of some HIV-related complications.
This includes some types of cancer, some of which still have a higher risk in people living with HIV.
This higher risk generally affects cancers that are related to viral infections. For example, KS is linked to HHV8 – a type of herpes virus. The risk of KS is definitely lower if you are taking HIV meds that will help, but the increased risk might be related to the years before HIV meds were started.
KS is a type of skin cancer that used to occur at much higher rates in the earlier years of HIV before effective treatment was available. HIV treatment often resolves KS without needing additional cancer treatment, but not always. KS is also unusual in that it can occur at high CD4 counts.
Luckily KS is now much more rare but a small percentage of people are still unlucky and get this. This is a link to information about people who get KS despite having an undetectable viral load.
The reasons why are not filly understood, but it might be related to the time – often many years – before someone was diagnosed and able to access HIV treatment.
If you have KS now and are in the UK, please make sure your doctor contacts the HIV service at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London which has the largest KS clinic and the most experience in treating and managing HIV.
This clinic has also reported cases of KS in gay men who are HIV negative and this is also not fully understood.
Please email questions@i-base.org.uk for more details.
Link:
Comment