[Buccopharyngeal Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS. Apropos of 51 cases]

The authors present a series of 51 cases of buccopharyngeal Kaposi's sarcoma observed in patients with AIDS. The diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma is generally obvious due to its appearance, its constantly violaceous colour and its site, especially palatine and velar. When Kaposi's sarcoma is the first manifestation of the disease, it appears to be associated with a relatively favourable pejorative connotation when the nevertheless extremely modest median survival of these patients is compared with that of patients who initially presented with an opportunistic infection not associated with Kaposi's sarcoma. Buccopharyngeal Kaposi's sarcoma is usually only an epiphenomenon. It is rare that the local course requires any tumour reduction treatment. When such treatment is required, radiotherapy with 35 Gys is currently considered to be the best solution.