Efficacy of paclitaxel in the treatment of Kaposi sarcoma.

OBJECTIVE: Kaposi sarcoma is an angioproliferative disease. Kaposi sarcoma is clinicopathologically classified into four subgroups based on epidemiological data. For its systemic treatment, in addition to some chemotherapeutics, taxanes have also been used during the recent years for their anti-angiogenic properties. In this study, we aimed to compare paclitaxel and non-paclitaxel chemotherapeutic regimens in terms of efficacy and side effects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In our center, demographical, clinical and histopathological characteristics of a total of 13 patients diagnosed with Kaposi sarcoma who received therapy were retrospectively recorded based on their medical files. RESULTS: Among these subjects, 7 have been treated with paclitaxel and 6 with non-paclitaxel therapies. Eleven patients were male. Twelve patients were found to have classical type of Kaposi Sarcoma. The recurrence was observed in 2 patients treated with paclitaxel and in 1 patient treated with non-paclitaxel therapy. No statistically significant difference was found between the therapeutic modality, the stage of the disease and the percentage of the recurrence. Neuropathy developed in 3 patients treated with paclitaxel, whereas there was no neuropathy in the other group. Although the recurrence-free survival was worse in the patients treated with paclitaxel, there was no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Cytotoxic chemotherapy is effective in treating patients with Kaposi Sarcoma, although it is palliative. Taxanes have demonstrated effectiveness against AIDS-associated Kaposi Sarcoma. The experience suggests that paclitaxel is an effective alternative in the treatment of classical form Kaposi's sarcoma. There was no difference in efficacy between paclitaxel and non-paclitaxel therapies whereas difference in occurrence of neuropathy which is one of the side effects, showed borderline statistical significance.