HIGH-INCIDENCE OF CLASSICAL KAPOSIS-SARCOMA IN ICELAND AND THE FAROE ISLANDS

We have examined the incidence of non-AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma in Iceland (1955-79) and the Farce islands (1974-95). In Iceland, 19 cas es, nine in men and ten in women, were identified, and in the Farce Is lands four cases in men and three cases in women were found. This corr esponded to surprisingly high incidence rates. In men, world standardi zed rates (per 100 000 person-years) were 0.4 and 0.6 in Iceland and t he Faroe Islands, respectively, and for women, the figures were 0.3 (I celand) and 0.5 (the Farce Islands), These are among the highest rates ever reported. No explanation for the high rates of Kaposi's sarcoma in these two North Atlantic communities could be identified.