Herpes is a broad category -- it includes the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles (varicella zoster) as well as the germs responsible for glandular fever and Kaposi's sarcoma.
Most oral cancers look very similar under the microscope and are called squamous cell carcinoma, but less commonly other types of oral cancer occur, such as Kaposi's sarcoma.
Researchers have moved a step closer in developing a medication for an efficient treatment against a type of herpes which causes a form of cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma.
The symptoms were visible and immediately recognizable: a disfiguring cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma, extreme weight loss (wasting) and suffocating pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.
