KAPOSIS-SARCOMA IN ITALY BEFORE AND AFTER THE AIDS EPIDEMIC

The incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in 1976-90 was assessed in Ital y, taking advantage of a network of nine population-based cancer regis tries covering, at its maximum, approximately 5.6 million subjects. Th e first examined period (1976-84) substantially reflects the epidemiol ogy of KS prior to the AIDS epidemic in the registration areas. Elevat ed incidence rates, standardised to the Italian population of 1981, of 1.05/100,000 men and 0.27/100,000 women emerged in 1976-84 (i.e. from two- to threefold higher than in the USA and Sweden, more than tenfol d higher than in England and Wales). These high rates, especially rema rkable in the Registry from the south of Italy (i.e. Ragusa, 3.01/100, 000 men and 0.54/100,000 women) suggest that the prevalence of the sti ll unknown causative agent for KS was high, al least in some parts of Italy, prior to the AIDS epidemic. In the most, recent period (1985-90 ), an approximately twofold increase in KS incidence rates in Italian men below age 50 was observed (from 0.15 in 1976-84 to 0.47 in 1985-90 ). Conversely, declines in KS incidence were recorded in older men.