CLASSIC KAPOSIS-SARCOMA IN JEWS LIVING IN ISRAEL, 1961-1989 - A POPULATION-BASED INCIDENCE STUDY

Background: The incidence of classic Kaposi's sarcoma (CKS) has been r eported to be high in Jewish populations, mostly born in Eastern Europ e. Objective: To describe the incidence on CKS in Israeli Jews and to determine differences in incidence according to their geography origin . Design: We analysed data on 1098 incident CKS cases with known count ry of origin occurring between 1961 and 1989 in the Jewish Israeli pop ulation. Reporting systems were the Israel Cancer Registry, the medica l documentation of all-Kaposi's sarcoma cases and the registry of HIV- seropositive patients. Patients who were seropositive for HIV were exc luded from the study population. Population figures for groups of migr ants and natives were derived from census surveys (1961, 1972, 1983) a nd inter-census estimates based on the population registry. Results: T he overall age-standardized rate of CKS was 16.9 per million in men an d 6.3 per million in women. The ratio between genders remained stable during the study period. In both genders, there was a steep increase i n CKS incidence between the late 1960s (age-standardized rates per mil lion: 8.0 in men and 2.2 in women) and the early 1970s (17.9 in men an d 6.7 in women). No further increase was present after 1971. Overall, immigrants experienced a relative risk (RR) of 1.17 [95% confidence in terval (CI) 0.90-1.52] compared with Jews born in Israel. Immigrants f rom Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia had the highest incidence (RR 2.01; 9 5% CI 1.52-2.65) compared with Jews born in Israel, followed by those born in Iraq (RR 1.74; CI 95% 1.27-2.37). The lowest incidence was exp erienced by immigrants from Iran (RR 0.37; CI 95% 0.18-0.77) and from Central European countries (RR 0.45; CI 95% 0.30-0.66). Immigrants fro m other countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe had similar rates as Jews born in Israel. Conclusions: Israeli Jews present one o f the highest incidences of CKS reported from developed countries. The incidence varies according to geographical origin. Countries surround ing the Mediterranean sea represent the area of highest CKS incidence. (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.