Kaposi's Sarcoma - Treatment

There is no single best treatment for KS. The choice of treatment depends on the type of KS a patient has and how far it has spread. Doctors sometimes use a combination of treatments to obtain the best possible results. Some common treatments include:

Topical Therapy

Topical therapy is used when there are few lesions and the disease seems to be progressing slowly. In such a case, a doctor may freeze the lesions, which kills them. Radiation therapy can also be used on individual lesions. Radiation therapy involves the use of some form of radiation, such as X rays, to kill cancer cells.

Systemic Chemotherapy

In systemic chemotherapy, a patient is given drugs that enter his or her bloodstream and are carried throughout the body. The drugs can thus attack and kill cancer cells in all parts of the body. Doctors have found that a combination of cancer-killing drugs often works better than a single drug. Some commonly used drugs include vinblastine (pronounced vin-BLAS-teen), bleomycin (pronounced blee-uh-MYS-uhn), and doxorubicin (dok-suh-ROO-buh-suhn).

Antiviral Therapy

A number of drugs have been developed for the treatment of AIDS. Some of these drugs also appear to be effective against KS. Among the most promising of these drugs is a group of chemicals known as protease inhibitors. Some widely used antiviral drugs (drugs that kill viruses) have not, however, been effective in treating KS. These drugs include acyclovir (pronounced a-SI-klo-veer) and ganciclovir (pronounced gan-SI-klo-veer).

Other Treatments

A number of other treatments for KS are being studied. These include:

Alpha-interferon. Alpha-interferon is a chemical produced naturally in the body that fights infectious agents. It has been tested as a treatment for KS by injecting it directly into lesions.

Retinoids. Retinoids are related to vitamin A. They have long been used to treat acne (see acne entry) and other skin diseases (see skin disorders entry). Some researchers believe that they also may be effective against KS lesions.
Laser therapy. Laser therapy is similar to radiation therapy except that it uses laser light instead of X rays or other forms of radiation. Laser therapy has had limited success in destroying small lesions.

Infections are caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. Doctors now have a number of tools to fight most of these disease-causing agents. For example, many bacterial infections can be cured by antibiotics. Viral infections, however, are a more difficult problem. Scientists have discovered relatively few drugs that will kill viruses. Some of the most promising of these drugs belong to a group known as the interferons.

Interferons were discovered in 1957 by the Scottish virologist Alick Isaacs and the Swiss virologist Jean Lindenmann. While studying influenza, Isaacs and Lindenmann made an unexpected discovery. Viruses in a cell had a way of preventing other viruses from entering the same cell. The viruses originally present in the cell produced a protein (chemical) that killed newly-arrived viruses. Isaacs and Lindenmann called the protein interferon because it "interfered" with the presence of other viruses.

At first, scientists thought that only one kind of interferon existed. But they have now discovered more than two dozen. Alpha-interferon is one type. It is being used to treat patients with Kaposi' sarcoma. Scientists are now investigating ways in which they will be able to make interferons work for them in fighting a number of diseases, including cancer.

Alternative Treatment

There is little evidence that any form of alternative treatment is effective against KS. Some practitioners recommend the use of herbal medicines and special diets.

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