Growth patterns, inflammatory cells and prognosis in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma

AIDS-associated cutaneous Kaposi's sarcomas (KS) in 35 patients were the subject of a histopathological and immunohistochemical study. Histologically, the tumours were classified as granulation-tissue-like (GR, n = 10), angioma-like (A, n = 11), angiosarcoma-like (AS, n = 9) and as spindle cell type (SP, n = 5). There was a distinct relationship between the main growth patterns of KS and the CD4+ peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) count. A decrease in numbers of CD4+ PBL was correlated with an increase in the frequency of AS and SP growth patterns. There were no correlations between growth pattern and concentrations of protein S100+, MT1+, CD45+ and MAK387+ tumour-associated inflammatory cells. When the GR type was grouped together with the A type, and the AS type with the SP type, statistically significant differences emerged for CD45+ and MT1+ tumour-associated cells, and for survival time, respectively. In all these instances, the GR/A group values were higher than those of the AS/SP group. Additionally, linear correlation analysis revealed an inverse relationship between the concentrations of CD4+ PBL and of protein S100+ tumour-associated inflammatory cells within the GR/A group. In contrast to what is observed with certain tumours of HIV-negative patients, this suggests that a high concentration of protein S100+ tumour-associated cells may indicate a worse prognosis in the GR/A group. The concentration of MAK387+ tumour-associated macrophages did not vary as a function of the growth patterns, even when they were grouped together as described above.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)