Prognosis in Kaposi's Sarcoma 1, 2

SUMMARY-We studied and followed up 112 African patients with Kaposi's sarcoma for at least 3 years or until death to determine what features of the disease at presentation most accurately predicted the prognosis. The clinical pattern of dis-ease at presentation was most important. All patients with generalized disease died of their disease; the only deaths among those with nodular disease were due to intercurrent ill-ness. The 3-year survival rate among patients with locally ag-gressive lesions was 64%. We could obtain greater refinement of prognosis by noting the response to a dinitrochlorobenzene challenge, the presence of nodal involvement, and the histo-logic pattern of the tumor. The age and sex of the patient in-fluenced the pattern of disease likely to be found, but the prognosis for a given clinical pattern was the same in both sexes and at different ages.-J Natl Cancer Inst 55: 1301