CLASSICAL KAPOSIS-SARCOMA - A SURVEY OF 163 CASES OBSERVED IN BARI, SOUTH ITALY

Background: Classical Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a sporadic disease that is particularly prevalent in Mediterranean countries. Objective: The aim of the study was to update clinical information about this rare co ndition. Methods: A survey of 163 cases observed in the period 1971-19 90 in Bari, South Italy, was carried out. All records were reviewed an d, when lost to follow-up for more than 6 months, patients were called back to update personal and family histories. The age at onset averag ed 64 years (range 18-85). The male-to-female ratio was 3:1. No famili ar occurrence was identified, and no significant association was found with other conditions (i.e. second primary malignancies and diabetes mellitus). Death from KS occurred in 16 cases, at the mean age of 71 y ears, an average of 5.7 years after the onset of the disease. To asses s whether the different clinical patterns of the disease in its earlie r stages may give any indication of its subsequent clinical course, al l cases were re-classified into three groups (low-, moderate- and high -eruptivity group) on the basis of both the extent and the rate of spr ead of the disease before first admission; group-stratified survival f unction was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier's life table method. Results: Highly significant (p < 0.0001) differences were found in survival pr ofiles of the three study groups, also when only deaths due to KS were computed. Conclusion: These findings provide some support to the hypo thesis that three subsets of classical KS exist that have different pr ognoses and, consequently, need different therapeutic approaches.