Types and Goals of Treatment for Kaposi’s Sarcoma

Each type of treatment for Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) has a different goal. Here is a list of treatments for KS and their goals. You may have more than one of these treatments.

• Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). Most, if not all people with KS should take these drugs. The goal of antiretroviral drugs is to slow virus replication in people with HIV. By doing this, they help prevent opportunistic infections. These infections are illnesses caused by organisms that usually do not cause disease in people who have healthy immune systems. Research is finding that HAART decreases the number of AIDS-related KS cases. This therapy also reduces the size and number of existing KS lesions.

• Surgery. The goal of surgery is to remove lesions with a scalpel, laser beam, or liquid nitrogen.

• Radiation therapy. The goal of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells using X-rays. This treatment is used to shrink local lesions. It is very useful when KS is in areas where surgery can’t be used.

• Chemotherapy. The goal of chemotherapy is to shrink KS lesions and reduce the chance that KS will spread to other parts of your body. A new form of chemotherapy uses small fat capsules, called liposomes, to carry the drugs. Liposomes help the drugs get to the cancer site more effectively with fewer side effects than older types of chemotherapy.

• Immunotherapy. The goal of immunotherapy is to use drugs to boost your immune system. This therapy may be used alone or after chemotherapy to treat cancer.

You may also get local drugs to reduce the size of the lesions. These drugs work best if you have only a few small skin or mouth lesions. Drugs can be spread onto the lesions or injected into them. Or your doctor may use liquid nitrogen to freeze them.

Newer drugs called angiogenesis inhibitors block the cancer from growing its own blood vessels. Since KS is made up of many blood vessels, this type of treatment may help to control the disease.

Doctors are always finding new ways to treat KS. They test these new methods in clinical trials. Before starting treatment, ask your doctor if there are clinical trials you should check out.