RESULTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY IN 30 AIDS PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC PULMONARY KAPOSIS-SARCOMA

Background - The aim of this study was to report the effects of a three-drug chemotherapy regimen in patients with symptomatic AIDS-related pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma and to analyse prognostic factors for survival. Methods - Thirty consecutive HIV seropositive patients with respiratory symptoms and proven pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma were treated with the same therapeutic regimen comprising adriamycin (30 mg/m(2)), bleomycin (10 mg/m(2)), and vincristine (2 mg) administered intravenously once every four weeks. Results - Two patients died during the first course of chemotherapy. In the other 28 cases dyspnoea improved and Pao(2) rose despite minimal (n = 17) or no (n = 11) improvement in the chest radiographic appearance. The median survival from the beginning of chemotherapy was 6.5 months. Poor prognostic factors for survival were: (1) absence of cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma; (2) previous opportunistic infection; (3) CD4 cell count <100/mu l; (4) leucocytes <3500/mu l; (5) haemoglobin <10 g/dl; and (6) absence of radiological response. Of the 28 patients 24 experienced at least one episode of neutropenia which was associated with bacterial infection in 16 cases. Conclusions - Chemotherapy may improve respiratory impairment in patients with extensive pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma but the outcome remains poor. The efficacy of chemotherapy may be limited by neutropenia.