What Causes Castleman Disease
No one has discovered the cause of this disease, but many doctors suspect a virus is involved. Doctors have found a virus called human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8) in many people with multicentric Castleman disease. This is the same virus that has been detected in many people with Kaposi sarcoma. Indeed, some people with Castleman disease also have Kaposi sarcoma. Infection with HHV-8 may cause abnormal production of substances such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) that cause lymphocytes to reproduce excessively. High levels of IL-6 production tend to be associated most often with multicentric disease.
Doctors also suspect that problems with the way a patient’s immune system is working may contribute to development of Castleman disease. Many people with Castleman disease have abnormally high blood levels of certain substances produced by immune system cells.