Pharmacology of liposomal daunorubicin and its use in Kaposi's sarcoma

In the early 1980s, we first began to see cases of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in patients with the lymphadenopathy now known to be associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). During that period, we were still looking at strong combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs to combat this disease, based on experience in nonimmunosuppressed African patients. It rapidly became apparent, however, that we needed both better regimens and more efficient ways of targeting antineoplastic agents to tumors, because these older regimens were highly toxic. This is a common problem throughout oncology but is particularly troublesome in the treatment of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).