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Intralesional interferon-alpha and zidovudine in epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma
Background:
Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is the most common neoplasm in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). To date, no therapy has proved to be consistently effective.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intralesional interferon-alpha in patients with epidemic KS who were taking zidovudine.
Methods:
Up to five lesions in each of 14 patients entered into the study were injected with 1 million U of interferon-alpha three times weekly for 6 weeks. Sterile water was used as a placebo control. The median zidovudine dose was 500 mg/day. The median CD4 count was 23/microliters.
Results:
Of 14 patients evaluated, 13 of 14 (93%) showed a clinical complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) to therapy. Of 54 lesions injected, 41 (76%) showed a CR and 5 (9%) showed a PR, which resulted in an overall response rate of 85%.
Conclusion:
Intralesional interferon-alpha produced a high response rate in injected lesions of KS, but it failed to demonstrate superior efficacy over the placebo.