Disseminated epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma treated with radiation and chemotherapy

When a 40-year-old patient with end-stage acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) had bloating and abdominal pain, a large epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma (EKS) lesion was found obstructing the pylorus. Treatment consisted of single-agent chemotherapy for the disseminated lesions and external beam irradiation to the obstructing lesion. Within days of radiation therapy, symptoms began to resolve, and by completion of therapy, the patient was virtually asymptomatic. Although EKS is common in homosexual men infected with the AIDS virus, these patients usually succumb to overwhelming opportunistic infections. Nevertheless, palliative courses of radiation, which can produce a complete response in 50% to 100% of treated KS lesions, can substantially improve the quality of life in these patients.